


Of Flames and A Spark

by donna_ssbk



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Avengers Tower, Bisexual Bucky Barnes, Bisexual Pietro Maximoff, Bisexual Sam Wilson, Bisexual Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson Friendship, Captain America Steve Rogers/Modern Bucky Barnes, Coffee Shops, Domestic Avengers, Eventual Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fire, Firefighter Bucky Barnes, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Harley Keener as Iron Lad, Harley Keener is Tony Stark's Adopted Child, Hurt Steve Rogers, Idiots in Love, Lonely Steve Rogers, M/M, Major Character Injury, Marvel Universe, Multi, Original Character(s), Pietro Maximoff Lives, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Steve Rogers, Sarcastic Bucky Barnes, Smut, Soul Bond, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Tony Stark Acting as Harley Keener's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2020-12-23 19:01:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 36,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21086252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donna_ssbk/pseuds/donna_ssbk
Summary: Steve Rogers awoke in 2011 to a very different world than the one he thought he'd died for in 1945. Now it's 2019 and despite having a wonderful found-family in the other Avengers, Steve still feels lonely, certain he must have left his unknown soulmate behind in the 40s.Bucky Barnes is a Lieutenant at a firehouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and lives a great life. He's never been interested in soulmates, and no person has ever attracted him enough to want to find his. At the age of 29, Bucky just happens to rescue a certain shield-wielding superhero from a fire his crew is called to tackle.Could this chance meeting lead to something more?In other exciting news: Harley is the adopted son of Tony and Pepper, he is also an Avenger Iron Lad, he's also soulmate bonded to Pietro maximoff,  who survived the Ultron incident and became an Avenger with his sister Wanda. Also Sam and Riley are firefighters and friends of Bucky, they are also soulmate bonded. I've had to invent most of the background etc. for Riley! ( aka the bits I couldn't tag, these are side stories to the main Stucky goodness). This fic is rated explicit for "there will be smut", if this isn't your thing, you have been warned!





	1. The Flames

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my second fic. If you've not read my other one, feel free to check it out, it's another Marvel Stucky AU titled 'Till the end of the line - everything has changed'
> 
> I love a soulmate story so thought I'd give my own a go. 
> 
> I've had to locate my firehouse somewhere, and for the purposes of wanting to be accurate to locations in New York, I've picked a real firehouse. Engine 202, Ladder 101, Battalion 32, Red Hook Raiders in Brooklyn. Other than the fact that this is a real firehouse, everything else about the station, it's crew, shift patterns, building layout etc. has been completely invented by me.  
No offence is meant in any way. I have absolute 100% respect for ALL emergency services and thier brave and talented staff.  
Any mistakes are entirely my own!
> 
> ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ denotes a POV change!

Steve breathed a cloud of mist out in to the chilly morning air, strong steady breaths that he would never stop thanking his lucky stars he’d been blessed with by the serum coursing through his body. He felt the steady, uninterrupted, strong beats of his heart as well, beating to the tempo of his feet hitting the street as he ran through the early morning air of a waking New York City. It was still very early, and despite repeated asking of his teammates, they still refused to wake up at the crack of dawn to run with him. He understood that. He even wished he too could lay in bed and sleep the early hours away. But if it wasn’t the Avengers emergency alarms signalling the need for them to suit up and head out waking him up, it was the nightmares instead! So Steve ran! He ran a lot, he ran until the sound of his fancy running sneakers slapping against the sidewalk drove the residual sounds of his nightmares out of his head.

Steve had awoken in the year 2011 to a very different world than the one he had thought he’d died for in 1945. 66 years had passed by then, and it had taken a long time for Steve to feel like he was really a part of it again. He’d been called a “man out of time”, and that first couple of years he had truly felt like it. Despite being thrust back into the superhero life, becoming part of the Avengers hadn’t come without its own issues. The biggest one, initially, had been Tony Stark. The brilliantly eccentric, genius minded son of his old friend Howard. To say that Tony and Steve hadn’t gotten on well to begin with was an understatement. But after they had defeated the Chitauri army and Loki, and Steve had seen for himself how selfless Tony could be, had seen first-hand the effect that selfless act had on the man, well, he understood panic attacks. Then Tony and the rest of the Avengers had come to his aid again when he’d discovered the awful truth that Hydra was still operating inside of S.H.I.E.L.D, and they had helped him take them down and stop project Insight before it could kill so many innocent lives. Even the Ultron incident, which Steve had been furiously angry at Tony over, he had understood the man’s motivation eventually and had forgiven Tony for his misguided attempt to protect them all. The more time that passed though, the more the Avengers came to feel like family. Not just the original 5 he’d met, Tony, Nat, Clint, Bruce and Thor, but also the new members that joined them. Rhodey, Pietro, Wanda, Vision, and Harley.

Harley was Tony and Pepper’s adopted son. Tony had met Harley when he’d been presumed dead after an attack by the Mandarin (who’d turned out to be just a puppet being used by the real maniac Aldrich Killian), the kid had helped Tony and impressed him with his intelligence despite being only 12, not to mention his ability to deal with the sarcastic egotist. Harley had been orphaned just 2 years later when his mom and sister died in a car accident. Tony had kept in close contact with Harley, and knowing that Harley had no other living family than an absentee biological father who wanted nothing to do with him, Tony offered to adopt Harley. So the 14 year old boy had, moved into the tower, became the adopted son and heir of Tony, then Pepper too when she and Tony had finally married, despite having known they were soulmates for years by that point. Harley had even become an Avenger himself, Iron-Lad, proving himself a tech genius just like his adoptive father, as well as a competent fighter in his custom Iron suit, and Pietro’s soulmate.

And there was a whole issue in itself that had Steve still feeling so lonely, despite his found-family in this new future world he found himself in. Soulmate! His lack of one! Steve had been born in 1918, a short, scrawny and sickly boy all his life until the serum. People had actively avoided touching Steve, not wanting to be stuck with him as a soulmate. His mom had always told him the right soulmate was out there for him, but the older Steve had got, the less he’d thought it would happen for him, he lost hope after his mom had died, until he’d met Peggy. Peggy Carter, what a woman! She had seen Steve when he had still been a nobody. When Steve had come out of Erskine and Starks serum machine, there had been a moment where, without realising it, Peggy had reached out and lightly touched Steve’s suddenly enormous pectoral muscle, and Steve had been sure the lights and sparks would surround them. But they hadn’t! Peggy had realised what she’d done, and had looked almost as disappointed as Steve had felt. He’d still loved her regardless, and he was sure she had loved him too. But he was glad when he’d found out, upon waking from the ice, that Peggy had eventually found her soulmate Daniel, and lived a long and happy life with him and their two children. He’d seen Peggy again as an old lady, and they’d had a couple of years to regain their friendship when her Alzheimer’s had allowed for it. But Steve still felt lonely, he was 35 years old for crying out loud (well 101 if you asked Tony, but that was chronologically, not biologically). He’d been born in a different time, a different age, whoever his soulmate had been, they’d be dead and gone by now. Steve was destined to be alone forever, never to experience that wonder and truest love the soulmate bond revealed. He just wished he could have felt it, could have found that person who was the other half of him, the person that would love him unconditionally. He mourned for the life he would never have with them.

Realising how sombre his thoughts had become, Steve began to pick up the pace again, running at a speed that would almost make him a blur to the few people walking the early morning streets. Steve had a few different routes he sometimes took on his runs. Today he had headed south from the tower towards Brooklyn, and without realising he had headed towards Red Hook, and his old stomping grounds from the 40s. A small smile appeared on his face as he decided to head to Coffey Park, a lovely green area Steve liked to run in occasionally, and run some laps around it. As the sky got lighter and the streets became busier, Steve looked forward to the green space and hoped it would help calm the sadness in his heart for just a while.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Lieutenant James Buchanan Barnes, know to his friends as Bucky, awoke in his comfy bed in his private room in the firehouse, a definite perk of being a higher rank, he’d worked his way up the ranks and done his time in the barracks, but he definitely preferred having the space to himself, as much as he loved his crew. He loved being able to just relax in his little private space, not having to worry about disturbing anyone if he was awake, or being awoken himself by others. Bucky had always wanted to be a firefighter, as a little kid he’d loved the bright red engines and thought the fire crews were really cool. As he got older and learned more about what firefighters actually did he just felt more in awe of them, and decided that was what he wanted to spend his life doing. So he had worked hard, trained hard, and found himself part of the Red Hook Raiders. Engine 202, Ladder 101, in Brooklyn, not far from where he’d grown up as a child.

His mom and dad still owned and ran their little coffee shop ‘Barnes Bakes’ just a half hour walk away from his firehouse. They had met and discovered they were soulmates on their first day of high school, and had gone on to marry and have Bucky in 1990 and his sister Rebecca in 1992. Bucky was 29 now, and Becca 27, but they were still both un-bonded, much to his mother’s despair. She would always pester them both about finding their soulmates, and Becca wanted to, but Bucky never had growing up. He’d been through school with a lot of douchebags, a few good friends (none of whom had sparked the bond with him, he had been silently glad about) and a habit of avoiding touch. Becca was a fully trained veterinarian and met people all the time, she kept trying to find her soulmate and teased Bucky for not finding his, joking that he’d be an old greying man when it happened, but Bucky always acted like he didn’t care, and most of the time that was true. Sometimes when he wasn’t working, he’d meet up with his best friends and fellow firefighters Sam Wilson and Riley Martinez, who had found out they were soulmates when Sam had helped Riley up after he’d tripped during a training exercise in his first week, they’d go out or he’d go round to their place, and seeing them so happy together and the looks of sheer adoration and love they would give each other, he’d feel a pang of jealousy for the bond they shared in his heart, then and only then would he think that maybe he’d like that for himself. But the older he got, the more people he met, there hadn’t been anyone who he thought he’d honestly like to share that kind of a connection with, so he just kept to himself, restricting his time to his close friends and family and his job. His job was the only love in his life really, and if that was a sad fact, then so be it.

Bucky had got himself up and gone through his morning warm up exercises, that always set him up well for the day ahead, then he’d showered and dressed before heading to the kitchen to grab some breakfast. It was still quite early but others were starting to stir now, when the alarm began to ring for an incoming emergency call. Lights flicked on everywhere now as the crew scrambled to get themselves up and ready for action. Bucky left the food he had in his hands on the counter and ran towards the office as Captain Tim Prior came out with a sheet in hand and they all moved towards the fire trucks, climbing into their gear as Captain Prior spoke “ok crew, fire reported at the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church by Coffey Park, at least 7 people were still in the building at the time of the call. Let’s move” he orders calmly. The crew move like the well-oiled machine they are, and are out and off to the fire in no time at all, Bucky and Tim conferring together with the rest of the crew as Sam drives them the short distance from the fire house to the church.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

As Steve approaches the park he gets a whiff in the air of burning before he rounds the corner of the street he was running along, the park in front of him, but to his right he can see flames and smoke coming from a church and his mind immediately goes into Captain mode. He doesn’t even need to stop to think, Avengers rescue operations and missions over the years, not to mention his Army career giving him the ability to make split second analysis and tactical decisions with ease. He speeds up and runs straight in to the burning building. He can hear shouts coming from a back room inside the church. So he moves towards the sound. He can see fire in one area so skirts around it making his way to the back where there is a door that has been blocked by a fallen beam. Steve touches the beam tentatively but doesn’t find it uncomfortably hot to touch, so grabs hold and hefts it away from the door in one smooth motion. He tries the door handle which seems to be jammed so just wrenches the whole thing off, flinging the door open to find a group of 7 people huddled in a corner on the ground to try and avoid the smoke in the air, wet cloths over their noses and mouths. Steve can see that one lady is holding her ankle and another has her arm held in her opposite hand, a couple look to have minor burns but everyone looks well enough to move. “Hey, can you all get up?” Steve asks the group, they all nod, seeming a bit stunned at the appearance of this massive stranger, “ok all of you that can walk, get out of here now, the way through to the main entrance is clear but I don’t know how long it will stay that way, be quick, but move safely” he orders, and the group of people seems to understand that he is there to help and immediately follow his directions. Steve moves over to the woman holding her ankle, “Ma’am, can you walk?” he asks her, “I think if you can help me up and with the first few steps I’ll be alright, I don’t think it’s broken, just twisted and sore” the lady replies. Steve nods his acknowledgement and helps the lady to her feet, he walks supporting her to the doorway and she seems to be walking fine albeit with a slight limp, he gives her space to move through the door under her own power and as she does an almighty creak and crashing sound begin as more beams start to fall towards the doorframe. The lady had already passed through thankfully and is out of harm’s way, but now Steve is trapped. He shouts at the lady to get out, not knowing if she even stayed to see if he was ok, but not wanting her to put herself at more risk if she did, and tries to evaluate his position. Clearly he can’t go back through the door, that way is definitely blocked, so he walks to the opposite wall and places his hands against it but has to jerk them back immediately as the wall is so hot it burnt his skin on contact. The mild burns start to heal straight away, but Steve now knows his situation is worse than he thought, he is definitely trapped! Damn!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

The engines pull up outside the church, which is covered in flames. The crew jump out and start prepping their hoses and gear. At that moment, Bucky sees a group of soot covered people run out of the main entrance of the church. He whistles and begins to run towards them, other members of the crew and Emergency Medics following. They start helping the people when another lady comes hobbling out of the church, Bucky jogs over to her and asks “are you okay Ma’am?” to which she nods coughing slightly but leans on his arm and says “I’m alright, but Captain America is trapped in there” sadly. Bucky’s brain seems to go offline for a split second before he stumblingly responds with “Captain America?”, the lady nods and says “yes I’m sure it’s him, I remember seeing him in an interview after the aliens attacked, he came in to rescue us but the roof collapsed after he got me out and I think he’s trapped in there”. Bucky thanks her and runs back to the engine, finishes putting his gear on and shouts his orders, “okay, I want Riley, Tina and Cole with me, there is one civilian trapped inside still, status unknown but possibly injured, masks on” and the group head in with the hose. They move carefully but efficiently through the burning building, clearing the way with the hose. It seems unfortunate that the room the people were in is surrounded on all sides by the fire. Captain America would have had no other way out. He intentionally didn’t tell anyone the suspected identity of the person, he didn’t want anyone taking stupid risks for this clearly stupid hero who shouldn’t be trying to do his job for him! Bucky assesses the situation as quickly as he can, and decides the best course of action is to aim the hose at the section of wall directly in front of the collapsed roof, if they can put out the fire in that section he can use the axe they carry to break through the weakened wall there and get to the Captain without risking collapsing any more of the roof. So that’s exactly what they do. When the flames are gone on that side he orders Riley and Tina to start on the other side while he uses the axe with Cole watching his back. It doesn’t take many hits on the weakened wall to chop through it. He makes a decent hole and is able to use his hands to pull off enough of the rest to climb through, turning he says to Cole “wait this side of the hole, just in case”, Cole nods and Bucky turns moving in to the smoky room, its darker in there and he puts his flashlight on, shining it around he sees the huge outline of a body on the floor, running the few paces over he hefts the body, which is face down, over and is relieved to see the rise and fall of the man’s chest. He looks down towards the man’s feet and can’t see any sign of injury on those muscular legs the man’s sweatpants do nothing to hide, he then looks back up the mountainous chest and over the arms, that look like he could easily snap Bucky in half if he felt like it, to the man’s face and for a second his mouth drops open inside his mask. The man he is staring down at is, in a word, gorgeous! He thinks he genuinely forgets to breath for a few seconds as his mind takes in the sooty yet attractively blonde hair swept back off his face, the long and luscious eyelashes that fan his cheeks, perfect cheekbones, a rugged jawline with just a tiny hint of stubble scattered across it, and a nose that is slightly crooked but that just adds to the overall manly rugged look. All of this registers in just a few seconds before Bucky is lightly shaking this Adonis of a man and saying “sir, sir can you hear me, sir wake up” and is relieved to see those stunning eyelashes flutter as the man’s eyes open and focus on his face. There is a look of confusion for a few seconds, before he looks around himself and must in that instant remember where he is and what happened, as the first thing out of his mouth is “did everyone get out?” in the gravelly voice of someone who has inhaled too much smoke, Bucky wishes he didn’t find that sexy right now, it’s completely inappropriate. Bucky nods and replies “yes, everyone got out, but we need to get you out of here now, this place is unstable”. The man begins to sit up and Bucky places a hand on his shoulder and says “hey pal we need to get you a stretcher, you’ve inhaled a lot of smoke and you could have other unknown injuries” in his most professional voice. The man looks back up at that, “no need, breathing is already better and I can’t feel any other injuries, the serum will take care of everything else” he states. Well that confirms the identity to Bucky, not that he needed much confirming, he’s got eyes that work perfectly well thank you, so he removes his gloved hand from the Captain’s shoulder and pushes himself up off the floor as the Captain does the same. The 2 men exit back through the hole in the wall and out of the building, medics rushing up to the Captain who waves them off but walks over to the where the ambulances and fire engines are parked, Bucky following behind him. The Captain sits on the ground back against one of the fire trucks wheels and looks up at Bucky, Bucky grabs a bottle of water and a cloth from one of his colleagues and crouches down, offering them to the Captain who takes them willingly with a smile that might just make Bucky’s knees go a tiny bit weak, taking a quick swig of the water before pouring some out on to the cloth and wiping his sooty face with it. Bucky then pulls of his mask and helmet, shrugging off the heavy oxygen tank and undoing his fire resistant jacket as well. The Captain looks back up at him and his face takes on a confusing look of shock for a second before the man smiles again and offers Bucky his hand saying “Steve Rogers, pleased to meet you”.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Steve looks into the face that is now free of the mask and helmet that were obscuring most of it and feels like his heart just leapt into his throat for a second before he manages to shove a smile back on what he assumes must be a slightly stunned looking version of his face. When he’d come round in the church it was to a deep velvety voice, but he couldn’t see the face of the speaker, now he can! All he can think right now is wow! This guy could be a model! He is stunning! Steve kinda wants to sketch him. He has the most gorgeous eyes Steve’s ever seen, he can’t decide if the colour is grey or blue or an intoxicating mix of both, and he has sharp cheekbones and a jawline that could probably cut glass, there is a dimple in the middle of his chin and it softens the man’s face some, he’s got a 5 o’clock shadow already but it really suits him, and his hair is a rich dark chocolatey brown that Steve thinks looks soft and fluffy and makes Steve want to run his fingers through it, or possibly his face against it, or maybe both. Woah, where did all that come from! The man is beautiful, but Steve’s never had such a visceral reaction to somebody before, not even Peggy. This man saved his life though and Steve wants to know everything about him. But he starts by offering his name. So he sticks his hand out saying “Steve Rogers, pleased to meet you”, he can see the man is still wearing gloves, otherwise he would never have been so forward, he still can’t shake the habit of keeping his hands in his pockets when he’s not wearing his Cap suits gloves, an old habit he can’t shake from his pre-war and army days, back then although he’d always been attracted to both men and women, those people that did end up in same-sex soulmate bonds were shunned or worse all the time, you’d hear stories of soulmates being beaten so bad, sometimes to death, and most of the couples seemed to think it lucky if they were just arrested for it, Steve had always hated that, it’s not like anyone had a choice in who their soulmate was, why should anyone be punished for something that fate decided without them? He’d been so pleased and relieved to discover a law had been passed in the 60s protecting all soulmated couples regardless of gender, giving them the right to be together without fear of persecution or worse. The man looks at the offered hand before reaching over and shaking it briefly replying “Lieutenant James Barnes, nice to meet you too”. Steve can’t keep the smile off his face with this beautiful individual looking at him, but he doesn’t want to make James feel awkward with his staring so he looks down at his water briefly, taking another sip before he returns his gaze to the man and says “thank you for saving me James, it’s not very often I’m on the other side of a rescue attempt”, James laughs at that and Steve feels a surge of pride that he made James make that melodious noise (oh god, he’s already a goner). James looks at him and smiles again and replies “just doing my job Captain, the job you should have waited for us to do, not run in yourself! You may be an Avenger sir but you are not a firefighter” the smile is replaced by a stern look as that little speech progresses, all authoritative and Steve gulps, good god that’s hot, is he blushing now, did James just make him blush? “Ahh, yes, well…… I, uumm…..” Steve stumbles a weird mix of embarrassed and slightly turned on that he has never experienced anything like before. James laughs again and says “it’s ok Captain, I get why you did it, your instinct is to save people, right? Even if it does put yourself in harm’s way”, and Steve sheepishly nods at him, then realises James keeps calling him Captain, and no that absolutely will not do! “Please call me Steve” he asks with a soft smile, and James’s cheeks go slightly pink before he softly replies with “okay. Steve. Then you can call me Bucky”.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Bucky’s never told someone he’s only just met that they can call him by his nickname before, but the Cap… no, Steve just seems to lower all of Bucky’s carefully constructed defences, I mean, if he can’t trust this literal superhero, who can he trust? Steve does this adorable little head tilt of confusion like he is actually a giant puppy, and Bucky’s cold icy heart defrosts a little more at the action (uh oh, he may be in trouble here), and with another laugh he explains “so my name is James Buchanan Barnes, Bucky is short for Buchanan. My younger sister couldn’t pronounce it when she was little and the name kinda stuck, there were just always so many James’s around, and I wanted something more unique” he finishes, then worries because does that sound a little egotistical? Will Steve think he’s arrogant? Why is he even caring what this person he just met and probably will never see again after today thinks?

Steve just smiles wider at him and nods before saying “it suits you” softly, making Bucky blush again, like seriously, what is wrong with him today? He is a professional dammit! Steve pushes himself back to his feet so Bucky stands as well, Steve hands him back the wet cloth and looks him in the eye speaking shyly “well, I should head back to the tower, thank you again, Bucky” he says and Bucky responds automatically with “just doing my job” because it’s true, even though Bucky feels like he should say something more, but what he doesn’t know, it’s awkward .Steve turns with a little wave and begins to jog away, faster than someone who had major smoke inhalation should be able to, and Bucky just stands there watching the most handsome man he’s ever seen jog away from him probably never to be seen again, and Bucky feels like he can’t breath for a second, like he was the one with smoke inhalation. But then he hears Sam calling to him, and he shakes the feeling off, honestly he shouldn’t be getting caught up on a guy like that, no matter how gorgeous he is or how sweet he seemed, he doesn’t know Steve and he’s one of the most well-known people on the planet, like he’d even give someone like Bucky a second thought. Steve would forget all about him by the time he got back to Avengers tower and got to doing whatever it is world famous super soldiers do when they aren’t saving the world. He turns to Sam and walks over to him, Sam raises an eyebrow and gives him a smirk “you finished ogling the man mountain buddy” he asks. Bucky gives him what he’s been told is his trademark murder stare, “I was not ogling! He was just nice, that’s all” he states coolly. “Sure buddy” Sam replies but the look on his face says ‘I believe you about as far as I could throw you’. Bucky rolls his eyes and huffs, but he moves off back to his crew and they all get back to the business of the fire that has now been fully put out. Thinking to himself ‘just throw yourself back into work Barnes! Forget the Adonis’.


	2. The Pining

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the hits and kudos so far. Hope you're all enjoying it. I added a picture of Steve and Bucky to the bottom of chapter one (don't laugh ok, I'm crap at photoshop and that's the best I can manage lol) it's more so you get the idea of how Steve and Bucky look in this fic. Plus Bucky in a firefighters uniform is a lovely thought! ;-)
> 
> So this chapter has the first tentative bit of smut in it, just warning ya'll ! 
> 
> Enjoy folks xXx

It’s been 3 days since the fire, 3 days, that’s all, and Steve cannot get Bucky off his mind! He’s at the point of hoping for some sort of disaster so he can have an Avenger sized distraction, and how bad is that! He’s found himself on a number of occasions sketching Bucky’s face, the shape of his lips, the crinkle at the side of his eyes when he laughed, that face seems to be seared into his mind. The other Avengers keep teasing him for being distracted, something he’s never been before. But Tony just teases him for the fact that someone had to rescue him. Somehow the story that it was him involved in the rescue during the fire has stayed out of the news. He supposes that’s because not many people know it’s him if he isn’t in his Cap suit, dressed as a civilian he gets recognised much less often. Clearly the majority of the people who were there didn’t know who he really was, and any that did have not said anything to the media. Neither has Bucky, and Steve is so grateful for that. He values his privacy outside of Avengers related matters, hence why whenever he gives official Avengers interviews etc. he keeps the cowl of his uniform on, it gives him a degree of anonymity. He’s never felt the way Bucky made him feel that day before, I mean sure he’s been attracted to people before, but this felt so much more intense. He literally cannot stop thinking about him. He doesn’t know what to do. I mean he literally has met the man once, knows nothing about the guy, other than he’s a firefighter, so must be a good person right? Like he’s a literal lifesaver, and he’s gorgeous, and has beautiful eyes, and his hair looks like silk, and he was charming, and sexy, and Steve is really screwed!

He’s sat in the communal lounge of Avengers tower, most of the others are off working or training, Steve is sat with an open book in his hand that he hasn’t read a word of and the huge flat-screen TV playing away to itself on some random news channel he’s also payed no attention to. Staring blankly at the open book Steve jumps when the elevator door opens revealing Harley Stark, just returned from his day at college. Harley greets Steve with a wave and is about to head towards his and Pietro’s room when Steve calls him over. “Hey Harley, can I ask you something?” Steve asks the lad. “Sure Steve, what’s up man?” Harley answers, throwing himself down into the chair next to Steve’s. “Uumm, it’s a little bit personal, you don’t have to answer, but, when you met Pietro for the first time, before you touched and found out you were soulmates, did you feel anything, like, could you tell?” Steve queries cautiously. Harley’s cheeks go a tiny bit pink, but he sits up and clears his throat taking a minute to think the question through before he answers, “well… I guess up until the point where I first saw him, I’d never really thought about people in a romantic way, and certainly not in a soulmate way, too much else going on in my life to worry about it. But when I saw him for the first time, I thought he was handsome, kinda cute, and there was definitely an attraction there. When he spoke to me, that first proper conversation, I felt kinda…. Uumm, how to explain it, I guess like the attraction was stronger, for both of us. I didn’t know he was my soulmate, I just knew I wanted to get to know him more. Then when he touched me, man, Steve I dunno how to describe it, I dunno if it’s the same for everyone, but it’s the most intense bombardment of feelings and emotions at the same time! Does any of that help?” Harley finishes. Steve is trying to mentally analyse whether the information Harley has given him helps when the lad suddenly barks out “wait, Steve, have you met someone? Do you think they’re your soulmate? Is that why you asked?” almost quicker than Steve can follow the questions. “Woah Harley calm down man, look, I met someone the other day, I don’t know if they are my soulmate or not but it was…. Intense? It’s been playing in my mind a lot, and I don’t really know what to do about it, it was a chance meeting, you know. But I know I wanna see them again. It’s kinda scary though man, I’d appreciate it if you would keep it to yourself for now though” he replies. Harley nods and says “of course Steve, sorry, I just, I’m excited for you man, you deserve good things” and he blushes a little again. Steve gives him a sincere smile and thanks him with a friendly pat on his shoulder. Harley gets up and says “well, I’ve got college work to get done or Dad will kick my ass” and he grabs his bag and wanders off towards his and Pietro’s room.

Steve gets up switching off the TV and heads to his own room. Once he’s in there he speaks, “F.R.I.D.A.Y can I get you to look something up for me?” he asks into the silence, the AI immediately responds (as always) “certainly Captain, what can I help you with?” she asks in her soft Irish lilt. “I’m looking for information on a firefighter, name is Lieutenant James Buchanan Barnes” thank goodness for his eidetic memory. A short while later, Steve is armed with the bare minimum of information he needs, he wants to see Bucky again and get to know him better, not make the man think he’s a total creepy stalker, and has a plan formed in his mind. If there is one thing Captain Steven Grant Rogers can do, it’s form a decent tactical plan!

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Bucky smacks himself on the forehead, again! It’s been 3 days since the fire at the church. 3 days since he rescued him! The day it happened they’d spent a long time at the church, finishing securing the area etc. Once they’d got back to the firehouse, and done the necessary paperwork, sorted and restocked the engines and gear and all the other requirements, Bucky had gone for a shower to soak away the grime and soot. Standing under the hot spray, his aches dripping off him like the water droplets, his mind had drifted to Steve. He remembered visually checking Steve over for injury, but in that moment all he could think about was the chiselled muscles of Steve’s body, so obvious through his sweatpants and too-tight running top. At that moment Bucky realised he had a slight (well, maybe not so slight) problem. His brain tried to tell his body that thinking about Steve’s muscles while he was naked in a hot steamy shower was probably not a good idea. His cock tried to tell his brain that it was in actual fact a brilliant idea and to back off and let it enjoy itself. Bucky was torn, but also really, really glad he had a private shower room! He knew the problem wasn’t going away anytime soon though. So he somewhat guiltily took his cock in hand and began to stroke himself squeezing gently around the shaft as his hand moved up and down it and running his thumb over the tip, his eyes closed on their own, and the image of Steve in all his muscled glory was there right behind his eyes the second they closed. He stroked himself faster, panting slightly, running his thumb along the slit now when his hand reached the tip, he could feel his balls drawing up and the curl of pleasured heat building in his abdomen, the Steve behind his eyes looks him right in the eyes and smiles that blinding smile of his and without warning the heat in his abdomen exploded out of him as he came all over his own stomach and hand, riding the wave of intense pleasure and panting hard. He stayed leaning against the shower wall for a minute as the endorphin high calmed, and he opened his eyes again. Damn! That was intense. He couldn’t help that he felt guilty that he’d just jerked himself off over the image of Steve, but it’s not like he’d see the man again, and maybe this would help get the intense feelings out of his system.

So 3 days later, and nope, none of it had gone, all those intense feelings were still there! He couldn’t get Steve out of his mind, even the day after when he’d been working still, thoughts of Steve kept popping into his head, so he’d decided that every time it happened he’d smack himself in the face, you know, negative reinforcement kind of thing, but all that happened was he was developing a really sore forehead! There was no way he’d ever see Steve again, no way Steve could ever be interested in some boring nobody like him, he was a god damn super soldier, super hero Avenger for god’s sake! Although, he’d told Bucky to call him Steve, he’d spoken to him so genuinely, and he looked at him in a way that Bucky could have sworn was desire. Was Bucky imagining it? I mean that couldn’t be right, could it? Captain America wasn’t gay! Was he?

Oh for the love of…. He really needed to stop thinking and obsessing over all this! He’d spent the day before relaxing after his busy 4 shift on rotation, he usually worked 4 on - 4 off, but he couldn’t stand another minute of being in his apartment with no distraction good enough for his brain to stop the constant stream of Steve, Steve, Steve! So he slid on his sneakers, threw a lightweight grey jacket on over his blue Henley, grabbed his phone and his keys and headed out the door. When he got down to the street, he turned in the direction of his parent’s café and set off at a brisk pace. Not 20 minutes later he walked through the door, the little bell jingling, and saw his mom walk through from the kitchen. Seeing her son, Winnie broke into a huge smile and opened her arms wide, Bucky grinned and walked straight into them wrapping himself around his much shorter mother and revelling in the feeling of home that surrounded them. “Hey mom. I missed you” he spoke into her hair. Winnifred Barnes laughed and pushed back slightly not enough to let her only son go, but enough to look over him. “James darling, you only saw me last week” she replied, but the glint in her eye showed she had missed him too. She always worried about him, he didn’t blame her really, in his job there was always an element of risk, and though he had willingly signed up for that, his family hadn’t. They were proud of him though, he knew that. His mum had his Battalion’s group photo up in the café, the Red Hook Raiders looked over his 3rd favourite place to be in Brooklyn, the 1st being his own apartment, the 2nd his parent’s house. “Let me make you your favourite then we’ll sit and have a catch up darling” Winnie said, moving behind the counter to the coffee machines and beginning to prep his large blonde mocha with whipped cream (what he had a sweet tooth ok), grabbing a plate and putting a slice of apple pie on it to be warmed up while the milk was steaming. Once everything was prepped Winnie came over to the table, a mug of peppermint tea and a piece of coconut cake for herself on the tray. “So how’s my favourite son” she asks taking a bite of her cake, Bucky laughs at the question, “you say that every time mom, I’m your only son” he replies. She raises one eyebrow at him and says “doesn’t mean you can’t be the favourite” with a wink. Bucky laughs again and takes a sip of his drink, letting out a soft mmmmm sound before his face settles into a more serious look. “Actually mom, it’s been a strange few days. You know we had that church fire 3 days ago” he questions, Winnie nods but refrains from speaking allowing her son to continue, Bucky sighs before continuing “well, I saved this guy from inside the church, he’d got everyone else out, but then became trapped. He was ok though and we talked after for a bit” again he pauses looking at his mom, who’s face gives nothing away, but she takes another bite of her cake gesturing for him to continue, smart woman, she knows he has a point he’s getting to! “Okay so, well, we talked, just for a few minutes really, and he was really cool, you know, nice” he feels his cheeks flushing a bit. Winnie notices obviously, she can read her son like an open book, but again gestures for him to carry on speaking. He takes another long sip of his drink, trying to decide what exactly he wants to say, I mean he can’t tell her about some of it, that would be mortifying! His mom doesn’t need to know certain details! Ever! He looks up at his mom, then back down at his drink before continuing, changing track he asks “When you met dad, how did it feel? I mean, like before the touch”. Winnie looks a little confused at the sudden topic change but replies “well, I saw him walking down the hall on that first day, and as we got closer, I just looked into his eyes and I knew he was mine! We both stopped walking, and he held out a hand, but didn’t try to touch me, just held it out for me, he gave me the choice, but I guess he knew I was his too, I can’t really explain it better, it was instinct I suppose, I just knew” she finishes. Bucky continues sipping his drink silently, staring at his slowly cooling but untouched slice of apple pie. Winnie frowns and says “James, darling, why do you look so worried?” Bucky didn’t realise he did, but he takes a deep breath in and looks her in the eyes “I think he was my soulmate mom” there, he’s said it out loud, the thought he’s refused to acknowledge the last 3 days, the one that’s been lingering in the back of his head that he’s refused to let out. His mom looks a bit stunned at what he’s just said. “James” she says in the most loving tone she can deliver. His eyes feel a bit hot, dammit he is not gonna cry, this is ridiculous, he’s a 29 year old man, he does not get emotional and cry over men, or women, or anything really for that matter. He takes another deep breath and calms himself for a second before responding. “Okay, so you know I’ve never been into the whole soulmate thing, I’ve never wanted that. But mom, I can’t get him out of my head, he’s absolutely floored me, we didn’t talk long and he left pretty soon after I got him out, but it’s like it flipped a switch inside me or something. He’s all I can think about. But I don’t think I’ll ever see him again. He’s kind of a big deal, and I’m just me, and I don’t know what to do, and I’m overwhelmed with all these feelings and thoughts and I don’t know how to deal with any of it” his head is in hands by the time he’s finished speaking, and Winnie reaches over and wraps her arms around her clearly distraught son. Holding him close to her and stroking his hair as he lets out his panicked breaths into the table and clings to her arm around him. She stays like that until his breathing has evened out again. Then she reaches down to cup his chin with her fingers and lifts his head up to look in his eyes, he doesn’t resist. “Darling, when you say he’s a big deal, what do you mean? Oh and don’t ever say ‘I’m just me’ like you don’t matter ever, ever again young man” she says. Bucky laughs a smile creeping back onto his face, trust his mom to cheer him up, he needed to hear that. He knows what he’s about to say will shock her though and he bites his lower lip before letting out a long breath and saying “mom, the guy I saved was Steve Rogers” he cringes slightly not knowing how she’ll react, his mom’s face goes kind of blank and she replies “Steve Rogers, as in Captain America?” and Bucky nods. Winnie’s face stays rather blank as she says “but he wasn’t mentioned on the news darling”. Bucky nods again “I know mom, only me and this old lady he’d helped realised it was him, and I asked her not to say anything to the media. I think he likes to try and stay anonymous in public if he can, that’s the impression I got anyway” he tells her finally shoving a huge chunk of apple pie in his mouth. Winnie looks a little stunned now, and Bucky can empathise, he’s been stunned for days! “Well, firstly, if he can’t see what a catch you are, then he isn’t worthy of you, I don’t care who he is or what he’s done, aliens and Nazis be damned! But if he is your soulmate, just give it time darling, these things tend to work out the way fate wants them to. Try not to stress yourself out about it darling. It’s perfectly natural to feel strong attractions to people sometimes. Your father and I had thought maybe you were asexual as you’d never shown any attraction to anyone, but I suppose this proves that theory wrong” she lets out a little laugh as Bucky turns bright red! “MOM” he hisses, “it’s not that I’ve never been attracted to anyone, I do find people attractive, men and women, I just haven’t ever wanted to do anything about it until now” he says, his face still flaming hot. His mom smiles at him and says “it wouldn’t have mattered to us either way darling” and although his face is still as red as his fire truck, he feels completely loved and supported in that moment.

Bucky has 2 more days off before he’s back on shift again, and over those 2 days he does manage to keep his mind off Steve to a degree, spending some time in the café helping his mom and dad out, doing some DIY around their house for them, getting his own apartment tidy and clean, meeting Becca for lunch one day, and having dinner at Sam and Riley’s place one evening. When he does think of Steve, rather than beat himself up about it, he just enjoys the memories and thoughts that do surface, wonders about what Steve might be doing at that exact moment, wonders if he thinks about Bucky at all, wonders if Steve could possibly feel even a tiny fraction of what he himself is feeling. And then it’s time for him to start his 4 on shift rotation again. His first day back starts quietly. No call outs so the guys move the fire trucks out the front to give them a good clean out and wash down. They finish up and Bucky sends the guys back in for some dinner while he finishes polishing the lights at the front of the truck, when he hears light footsteps behind him and someone clears their throat. He drops the cloth back in the cleaning supplies tub and stands turning to see who is there, and stops frozen still as a statue. Stood right in front of him and looking like the embodiment of perfection is Steve Rogers!


	3. The Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter 3. I'm cranking this out quite quickly at the moment as this story won't leave me alone, so I'm about 1 chapter ahead of myself at the moment. Not sure how long that'll last, but fingers crossed. Enjoy a chapter of these boys being adorable fluffy cinnamon rolls!
> 
> Enjoy xXX

Steve feels extremely nervous on the drive to the firehouse Bucky works at. He’d found out from F.R.I.D.A.Y the address of it, and he’d also found out what shift pattern Bucky worked, because he obviously needed to be there when Steve turns up. But he’d refused any further information from the A.I, wanting to find out anything else about Bucky from the man himself, if Bucky wants to get to know him that is, Steve really hopes he does! Steve had borrowed the least conspicuous car he could from Tony, and even then he can tell it’s expensive, and drove to the firehouse. He managed to park pretty close, and walks the short distance to the entrance. He can see two fire trucks parked outside the front, both gleaming in the afternoon sunlight, and to his delight he can see Bucky at the front of one of them, he seems to be cleaning the lights. Steve takes a second to just stare at him, he’s blown away again by just how stunning the man is. His hair is gleaming like melted chocolate with the sun shining down on him, he has a lean but muscular frame, and Steve has an urge to go up to him and grab that perfect looking ass. Oh god, Steve really needs to not think thoughts like that right now! He takes a steadying deep breath in and walks over, stopping a couple of meters behind Bucky and clearing his throat to announce his presence. Bucky drops the cloth he was using in a tub full of cleaning supplies and turns to face him, and freezes with a look of shock on his face. Steve really hopes he hasn’t completely misjudged the situation, and sheepishly gives a little wave and says “hi, uumm it was Bucky right? We met the other day, I’m Steve”. God he feels like a dumbass right now, he’s usually so confident talking to people, but this man seems to send all his practiced and honed communication skills down the nearest drain! Bucky seems to have regained the ability to move and replies with “yeah, as if I could forget” with a slight laugh and the tiniest hint of a blush on his cheeks. That gives Steve a bit of a confidence boost, so he tries another sentence, “I hope you don’t mind me coming here, I just wanted to see you again, thank you properly for saving my life” he says. Bucky looks surprised but replies “I don’t mind, but you really don’t have to do that Cap… uuhh… I mean Steve….. it’s still okay for me to call you Steve right?” he stumbles over the sentence, and Steve thinks it’s adorable but he smiles and huffs out a little laugh saying “of course it is, I told you to didn’t I”. Bucky smiles widely and it lights up his whole face, Steve almost forgets to breath, floored again by how gorgeous the man is, god he really is an absolute goner! He looks Bucky directly in the eye, musters all his confidence and says “I was wondering if I could take you out to dinner? As a thank you?” then goes silent waiting for Bucky’s response.

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What the hell??? Did Captain America just ask him out to dinner??? Is he asleep??? Is he dreaming again and he’s just not realised, he subtly pinches himself, and nope, he’s awake, that hurt. Okay Cap… god damn it, NO! Steve just asked him out to dinner. He needs to reply, actually respond to the man who has begun to look slightly nervous. “YES” he practically shouts at the poor man, Bucky mentally facepalms himself again, (don’t put the poor fella off Barnes, cool it), “uuhh yeah, we can, you can, do that, I’d like to” (what the actual fuck Barnes), “what I mean is, yes I’ll go to dinner with you!" Dear lord he’s the actual definition of a disaster bisexual! Steve looks relieved though, mildly amused and, dare he say it, rather happy too. “Okay, good, that’s great. Uumm, I know you’re working for a few days, so maybe if I could get your number I can text you and we can sort something out for when you’re off?” Steve asks him, and Bucky thinks thank god Steve seems to have his shit together because clearly his own ran away to hide the second Steve approached him. “Yeah, that’s fine” Bucky says with a smile and Steve takes his phone out of his pocket and holds it out, Bucky notices that Steve is holding it by the very top so as not to touch Bucky unintentionally, god he’s such a gentleman Bucky thinks, and careful not to let his fingers touch Steve’s he takes the phone types in his number and hands it back just as carefully. Honestly he kind of wants to touch Steve, ok really wants to touch Steve, but it wouldn’t be appropriate yet, and he respects Steve all the more for the way he is respecting Bucky himself. However much Bucky believes they are soulmates, they both have to be ready to take that step together and see. If he’s honest, now that he’s actually met someone that makes him want the whole soulmate thing, he kinda wants the fairytale, like his mom and dad, and when the hell did he turn into a Disney princess? Whatever! He’s a strong, independent man and if he wants a fairytale then he’s damn well allowed to want it!

Steve has this kind of dopey looking smile on his face now and Bucky’s heart aches at it. “Okay, well, I guess I should go now. Uumm, so I’ll text you real soon. It was great to see you again Bucky” Steve says. Bucky smiles back at him and replies “you too Steve. I’m glad you stopped by”, see he can be coherent! Steve turns to leave, takes a couple of steps then looks back at him and says “stay safe Bucky” turns back around and walks away. Bucky can’t drag his eyes away from Steve’s retreating form, my god, that ass, Bucky actually might be drooling, it should be illegal for Captain America to walk around in pants that tight, his ass is too damn fine! Steve turns a corner and disappears from Bucky’s eyesight and his brain seems to be working normally again now. He can’t quite believe what just happened. He knows he’s not dreaming, but he’s still struggling to believe this is all real, and Steve told him to stay safe, Steve cares about his well-being, which means Steve cares about him, and he can’t quite believe it, that is until his phone vibrates in his pocket. Bucky pulls it out, unlocks the screen and reads the text.

_ **Unknown number – 16.52** _

_Hey, it’s Steve Rogers. It was so great to see you again. Let me know when you’re free for dinner and I’ll arrange something. Take care of yourself Bucky._

It makes Bucky feel weak at the knees, even in text Steve is just so damn polite and gentlemanly. He saves the number to his phone and sends a quick reply.

_ **Bucky Barnes – 16.54** _

_Hey Steve. I’ve got 3 more days on shift then I’m off for 4 days so any evening out of those 4 days is fine. I’m really looking forward to it. Bucky X_

Then he panics a bit at the fact he sent a kiss in the text, until the response comes through.

_ **Steve ♥ - 16.55** _

_Okay. I’ll get something booked and text you the details. I’m really looking forward to it too. Steve X_

Bucky’s heart flutters again, and so what if he saved Steve’s number with a heart next to the name! He can do that if he wants to!

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Steve can’t stop the huge smile on his face the whole drive back to the tower, and he’s suddenly very grateful to Tony for this stupidly expensive car’s probably stupidly expensive blacked-out privacy windows. He couldn’t help but text Bucky the second he’d got back in the car, so what, he’s enthusiastic and excited, he’s allowed to be. Bucky was adorably awkward with him, and it made Steve feel so much better about the fact he’s not been able to get Bucky out of his mind. The way Bucky acted makes him think that maybe Bucky had been thinking about him too, and he wonders if Bucky also feels drawn to him. He’s feeling confident that Bucky is his soulmate, but he doesn’t want to force Bucky in to anything, he won’t do that, it’s wrong. It has to be Bucky’s choice. Yes Steve wants it, more than anything, but he respects Bucky as a person and respects his individuality and his right to choose. When he got Bucky’s reply so quickly, that felt great, and he’d put a kiss on the text. He knows cos he had to ask Clint what the X at the end of a message Nat sent him meant once. And boy did that make his heart melt. God he’s a sap!

It’s when he’s back in the tower, heading up to the private levels that it suddenly occurs to him and panic sets in. He’s not been on a date before, like ever, not even back in the 40s. Oh god! The elevator opens and he stumbles out in a daze. Looking around the communal lounge he sees Nat chatting to Rhodey over on one of the couches while Wanda and Vision are cuddled up next to each other on another couch watching something on the TV. He can see Pepper standing in the kitchen area talking to Pietro, which means Harley may be in their room alone, so he quietly heads that way to find out. Approaching their door, which is slightly ajar, he can hear music playing quietly so he knocks lightly and hears Harley say “come on in”. Pushing the door open he steps through the frame and closes it behind him quietly. Harley looks up from the bed he’s lying on his front on with papers and books surrounding him, he must be studying again, and it occurs to Steve that Tony actually adopted a kid who is so much like him he could almost be his biological son, and Harley smiles at him with a “hey Steve, what’s up man”. “You got a few minutes you can spare me kid?” Steve asks. Harley nods and replies “absolutely man, fire away”. Steve sits in the comfy chair to the side of the bed and faces Harley and says “You remember that talk we had the other day” Harley nods but doesn’t say anything, “okay, well, I went to see the person today, and I kinda have a date, and I’m panicking slightly” Steve finishes. Harley looks a bit surprised “Steve that’s awesome man. Congrats on the date, but why are you panicking?” he asks. Steve feels a bit embarrassed to admit it, looking at his hands he lets out a long breath and says “I’ve never been on a date before kid”, he’s waiting for Harley to start laughing, he’s a 35 or 101 year old man, and he’s never been on a date, I mean that’s just sad right? He looks up, and if anything Harley looks a little sad, not like he’s gonna laugh at him, “Steve, man, it’s ok to be nervous about stuff like this, there’s nothing wrong with that, but for the record, you’re an awesome dude, a good friend, and you’re fun to be around, so I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about. Anyone who can keep up with Dad’s ego and sarcasm levels will do fine on a simple date” Harley says. Steve is blown away by the compassion this 19 year old kid shows and he smiles back at him and says “thanks kid, I appreciate that. I guess I should probably give you some more information if you’re gonna help me”. Harley lets a little laugh out “yeah that’d probably help” he replies. So now Steve feels nervous again. None of his found-family know that he’s bisexual, he’s never had a need to tell anyone, and he’s not sure how they’d all take it. He’s sure they’d be supportive, they are all good people, but you never know. He takes another deep breath and begins, “okay, so he’s 29, his name is James, he’s a firefighter in Brooklyn, he’s funny, and completely gorgeous” Steve blushes. Harley smiles at him “that’s awesome Steve, he sounds cool. So what were you thinking of for your date?” Harley says, not a care at that fact that Steve wants to date a man, and if there is one person Steve thought wouldn’t have an issue with it it’s Harley, who is soulmate-bonded to a man too and is young and from a much more accepting generation. Steve smiles wider now, feeling more relaxed, “I asked him out to dinner, but I’m not really sure where to take him. Somewhere nice, but not your dad’s level of expensive. I wanna impress him but I don’t wanna come off as a jerk who’s flashing his cash” he says, before realising what he just said and throwing a guilty look at Harley “I didn’t mean….” Harley bursts out laughing and waves him off “it’s cool man, dad does flash his cash around, cos he can and he doesn’t realise” he says through the laughter, and Steve can’t help it and begins to laugh too then. When they’ve both calmed down Harley looks thoughtful for a minute then says “I think the most important factor is discretion here, so how about this, I’ll speak to dad, tell him I wanna take Pietro for a nice but not too pricey dinner, but that we need somewhere that will be discreet seeing as we are both well-known and noticeable, and see where he suggests, then I can let you know the options he gives me, he’s good with stuff like that”. Steve is really impressed with that idea, “that would be great, thanks kid, I really appreciate all your help with this whole situation actually, and your own discretion as well” Steve tells him. Harley waves him off again but smiles softly, “I’m happy to help Steve, like I said, you’re a great guy, and you deserve to find your happiness, you’ve definitely earned it”. Steve should really stop being surprised at how cool and clever Harley is, he totally understands why Tony cared about the boy enough to want to adopt him. At that moment the door opens and Pietro walks in walking over to the bed and sitting next to Harley, placing a hand on his waist and a kiss on the top of his head, he then gives Steve a smile and says “hello Steve, how are you” in his Sokovian accent, Steve replies I’m good thanks Pietro, and you?” and Pietro says “I am also good” then looking down at Harley again his smile softens and he says “are you ready to eat my love, we can go make food yes?” and Harley looks back up at Pietro with a loved up smile and replies “of course babe, I can finish these equations later”, Steve can see the adoration in the couples eyes for each other, and he can’t help but hope that he’ll get that with Bucky, he’s never wanted anything so much in his life. He excuses himself and returns to his room to look through his clothes and see what he has that is date appropriate or if he needs to do some shopping.

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Bucky slips into his bed in the firehouse, he’s still kind of reeling from the fact that Steve actually came to find him and asked him out to dinner, he’s not 100% sure it’s a date, it could just be a thank you dinner he guesses, but that isn’t the feeling he got from Steve, from the way he said it and how he acted. He wonders if maybe he should ask Steve, but that’d be an embarrassing situation for them both if it wasn’t and he’d got the wrong idea. He decides not to stress over it and he’s just getting comfy to sleep when his phone vibrates from where it is charging on the bedside table. Picking it up he unlocks the screen and clicks on the text to read it.

_ **Steve ♥ - 21.48** _

_Hey Bucky. I forgot to ask, do you have any allergies? So I can book an appropriate place for our dinner date. Steve X_

Oh god, there he goes again being the perfect gentleman! Seriously how thoughtful and sweet can this guy be, like is he for real? Oh and he guesses that text answers the date question. Smiling wide he types a response.

_ **Bucky Barnes – 21.51** _

_Hi Steve. No allergies or intolerances, I’ll eat pretty much anything. Bucky X_

_ **Steve ♥ - 21.52** _

_That’s good, gives us more options, and same. I’m just gonna put it out there now, the serum makes my metabolism work 4 times faster than a normal human, so I need a lot of food, like a whole lot! Steve X_

Bucky laughs out loud at that, Steve is so cute, and a dork, but mostly cute.

_ **Bucky Barnes – 21.55** _

_LOL don’t worry about it Steve. You ever thought about entering a competitive eating contest ;-) Bucky X_

He is quite proud of himself for that text, but there’s no response for a while, and then Bucky wonders if Steve had to google what LOL means, or if he googled competitive eating, but when the next text finally comes through it is literally just a line of cry-laughing emojis. Bucky’s grin is making his cheeks ache now, but he doesn’t care. Steve just keeps on surprising him, and as far as Bucky’s concerned, Steve can carry on surprising him for as long as he wants!

He opens up his WhatsApp chat with his mom and sees that she’s online and shoots her a message.

_**Bucky** – Mom guess what_

_**Winnie** – What James?_

_**Bucky** – Guess who I saw today_

_**Winnie** – It could literally be anyone darling, we could be here all night!_

_**Bucky** – LOL, fair point! Ok Steve came to the station!!!!!!!!!_

_**Winnie** – Oh my goodness! James what did he say?_

_**Bucky** – He asked me out to dinner mom, and he asked for my number and we’ve been texting, and he’s so sweet, and a bit of a dork, but just so great mom!_

_**Winnie** – Oh James darling, I’m so happy for you, didn’t I tell you these things tend to sort themselves out!_

_**Bucky** – Honestly, I’m still kind of stunned, but he’s such a gentleman!_

_**Winnie** – Well of course he is, he was born in a different age James, he grew up in the 1920s, it was a very different world back then darling._

_**Bucky** – Oh god, you’re right! I have no idea the way people were expected to act back then! What if I embarrass myself, or him?! What if I make an absolute ass of myself and he never wants to see me again?!_

_**Winnie** – You won’t darling. Remember Steve has lived in this world since 2011, he’s had years to get used to our uncivilised ways_

_**Bucky** – yeah I guess you’re right. I’m still gonna have to do some research though. Thanks mom. I love you_

_**Winnie** – I love you too darling, now get some sleep, if you get called out you need to be well rested. Be careful X_

_**Bucky** – I will mom X_

Bucky closes WhatsApp and sees another text from Steve.

_ **Steve ♥ - 22.03** _

_Goodnight Bucky. Sleep well. Steve X_

Bucky smiles again.

_ **Bucky Barnes – 22.21** _

_Goodnight Steve, you too. Bucky X_

He’s so gone for this man! Completely and totally gone! And he couldn’t be happier!


	4. The Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy all. here's hoping you'll all enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Bit of angst going on in this one, but nothing heavy, and some more fluff!  
The date is coming next! Will it go smoothly? Any guesses? Are ya'll ready? Feel free to drop me a comment .
> 
> As always, enjoy xXx

Over the next couple of days, when Bucky has quiet moments around the firehouse and they aren’t doing some training, or running simulations, doing paperwork or meeting with Tim, Steve and he text back and forth quite a bit, and it’s nice. Steve always texts him a good morning and goodnight, enquires about how a call out went, or how his day has been, and always texts him a ‘be careful’ or ‘stay safe’ as well. Bucky feels so cared for. But the texts he loves the most are the random ones that make him laugh like

** _Steve ♥ - 13.37_ **

_Wanda just made me watch a film called Magic Mike with her. It was NOT what I thought it would be about! (with a blushing emoji)_

Or

_ **Steve ♥ - 18.06** _

_Tony gave me this curry for dinner that had ghost peppers in it. I’ve never wanted to commit murder more!_

So he’ll randomly text funny things from his day back, like

** _Bucky Barnes – 11.30_ **

_My friend Sam was walking past the truck with a bucket of water in his hands, my other friend Cole was hiding in the truck and put the siren on as Sam walked past the door. Never seen a man jump so high, the bucket landed on his head! LOL!_

To which he received another string of cry-laughing emojis. He loves that response every time he gets it.

On his second day of work, the Avengers get called out to Spain where a joint Hydra and A.I.M splinter cell have banded together to hijack their government buildings, kidnapping the prime minster and threatening the entire area with bombs. The Spanish authorities request the Avengers help, so they head off in the Quinn jet. Bucky is understandably worried about Steve, he knows the man is a super soldier, and a hero, and one of the world’s best tacticians, but he’s also falling so hard for him that he can’t help but worry. He realises then why Steve must always be texting him to be careful, the thought of Steve getting hurt or worse is the most awful kind of torture, maybe this is how Steve feels every time Bucky attends a fire or incident. Oh! He can’t help it, he has to text Steve!

** _Bucky Barnes – 09.27_ **

_I don’t know if you’ll get this before you get there, but, please be careful Steve. Bucky X_

** _Steve ♥ - 09.29_ **

_Stark phone = permanent great signal! I will Bucky, I promise. I definitely don’t want to miss our date. Steve X_

** _Bucky Barnes – 09.31_ **

_Good, cos I’d have to head to Spain just to kick the crap outta them myself, and I hear air fuel tax is expensive these days! Bucky X_

** _Steve ♥ - 09.33_ **

_Well when you put it like that……. I’ll be fine Bucky. I’ll text you when it’s over. Keep safe while I’m away. Steve X_

Bucky’s in an antsy mood the whole rest of his day. He set up google alerts for Steve Rogers, Captain America and Avengers and his phone is vibrating constantly in his pocket but he doesn’t care, he needs to know immediately if something happens to Steve! Not that there’d be anything he could do about it, but he still needs to know. He even switches to the news channels whenever he walks into a room with a TV in it. His crew can tell he’s not himself. Riley comes over to talk to him at one point in the afternoon, the crew have been giving him space, but Riley is one of his best friends and he’s worried about Bucky. “Hey bro, are you ok? You haven’t seemed yourself today” Riley asks him. Bucky looks at him and can see the concern in his eyes, glancing around the room briefly he can see they are alone so decides that confiding in Riley is the right thing to do. “I met someone” he says tentatively, Riley’s eyes widen a bit, he knows that Riley knows how big a thing this is for Bucky to admit, Bucky who has never been interested in any relationship! Riley let’s Bucky carry on, “the guy I met, he’s so amazing Ri, I’m almost certain he’s my soulmate, we’ve been texting loads, he’s so caring and genuine. But…..” he tails off at the end. Riley gives his arm a squeeze trying to lend Bucky his strength and says “but?” Bucky takes a deep breath, “it’s the guy I saved from the fire last week. He came to find me a few days after, to thank me, and we’re going on a date soon” he tells Riley. “That’s great bro, but it doesn’t explain what’s got you so out of sorts” Riley states. Bucky can’t get around it, he’s got to tell him. “It’s Steve Rogers Ri. He’s the guy I saved, and before you ask, yes I do mean Captain America Steve Rogers” Bucky says blushing. Riley’s jaw drops open slightly and he seems stuck like that for a minute but then he clears his throat and says “right, so I guess that explains it. They’re off fighting aren’t they, the Avengers I mean?” Bucky nods “yeah, they left for Spain this morning, Steve text me from the jet. I’m just worried about him. I know he’s more than capable of taking care of himself, but I can’t help it. We haven’t known each other long, but I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to him” he admits, his cheeks red, but he continues “it’s stupid I guess, we haven’t even had 1 date yet, we haven’t touched, I guess we may not even be soulmates…” he trails off again, and Riley gives him a companionable pat on the shoulder. “It sounds to me like the same way I felt about Sam before we touched, I’m a firm believer in that when you know, you know! Sounds to me like you’re pretty certain. And hell, I’ve never seen you interested in anyone before. You’ve certainly seemed happier the last week or so, and the way you’ve been acting today, it’s obvious how much you care about him and how worried about him you are” he says. Bucky really appreciates Riley’s kind words and support. He smiles at Riley and is about to speak again when his phone vibrates on the table and he scrambles to grab it off the table to look at, then a huge smile breaks out on his face as he reads.

** _Steve ♥ - 17.42_ **

_Hey Bucky. I haven’t got much time but I just wanted to let you know everything is fine. I’m safe, just a few cuts and bruises, but they’ll be healed and gone in a few hours. Stay safe yourself. Steve X_

His entire body relaxes then, he hadn’t realised how tensely he’d been holding himself all day! He looks at Riley and blushes, “it’s Steve, he’s okay” he says grinning. Riley laughs but smiles back at him “that’s great bro. Try and relax now, and thanks for trusting me with this” Riley replies. Bucky nods at him and says “I do trust you Ri, I know you won’t say anything to anyone. I think until I’m certain what this is myself I don’t really want people to know about it”, Riley just nods again and gets up to give Bucky some space, but he turns at the door and says “I really am happy for you bro” then leaves the room.

Later that evening, which is the early hours of the morning in Spain, the TV announces that the Avengers have resolved the situation, the Spanish prime minister is safe and will be presenting the Avengers with an award later that day before they head home. Bucky can’t help the feeling of pride for Steve and in his head he thinks ‘that’s my man’ which freaks him out for a minute because he’s only known Steve for 7 days at this point! 1 week! That’s it! But if he’s honest with himself, he knows he’s already fallen in love with Steve, and that scares him, because what if they aren’t soulmates! But he can’t change the way he feels, so he’s just going to not worry about it. Then his phone vibrates again

** _Steve ♥ - 20.04_ **

_Hey Bucky. Are you ok? Steve X_

** _Bucky Barnes – 20.05_ **

_STEVE! It’s like 2am in Spain! What the hell are you doing still awake? You should be resting!_

** _Steve ♥ - 20.06_ **

_I’m still on Ney York time, plus I can go longer without sleep than most people cos of the serum. I promise I’m fine. Were you worrying about me?_

** _Bucky Barnes – 20.08_ **

_Uumm, maybe. But I’m glad you’re ok. If you’re sure? I may have been a little worried. Bucky X_

_ **Steve ♥ - 20.09** _

_You don’t have to worry about me Bucky, but I’m honoured that you do. I hope I didn’t ruin your day? Steve X_

_ **Bucky Barnes – 20.11** _

_I may not have been the best company today. The crew are cool though, they won’t care. I couldn’t help it, I care about you Steve. Bucky X_

_ **Steve ♥ - 20.12** _

_Bucky! That means more to me than you can possibly know! I care about you too. I know we haven’t known each other that long, but you mean a lot to me. Steve X_

Bucky’s heart aches as he reads that text! He feels a bit overwhelmed in the best possible way. He doesn’t really know what to say back, but he doesn’t wanna leave Steve hanging with nothing, so he goes for basic honesty.

_ **Bucky Barnes – 20.15** _

_Same. Hurry home. Bucky X_

There are a couple of call outs the next day, so Bucky catches up on the award presentation when they are back at the station in the afternoon. It was a basic ceremony, the Spanish prime minister presented each of the Avengers team members with a medal for bravery personally and thanked them. Then it was over. Bucky goes up to his room to grab a shower and checks his phone which he left in his room before the first call out. He has a couple of notifications so sits on the edge of his bed and unlocks the phone screen. The first ones are WhatsApp messages from his mom

_**Winnie** – Even with that helmet thing on doesn’t your Steve look handsome today, is that a different uniform than what he normally wears?_

_**Bucky** – MOM, he’s not MY Steve! But yeah he does look handsome, trust me, I will be enquiring about that suit at the earliest opportunity. Now go pester Becca, I need a shower!_

_**Winnie** – He’s as good as yours! Love you darling ;-)_

Bucky rolls his eyes at his mom’s message, but he feels like maybe she’s right. Maybe Steve is his?! Then he checks his other notification, which is a text from Steve.’

_ **Steve ♥ - 16.14** _

_Hey Bucky. Just wanted to let you know we’ve landed back at the tower, all safe and sound. Also I’ve booked a table at an Italian restaurant in Manhattan in 3 days, on Saturday at 6pm. I figured that gives you the 1st of your 4 days off to rest after working. A car will come pick you up at 5.30pm if that’s okay? I’ll need your address. Let me know. I can always change things. Steve X_

Okay, firstly Bucky loves Italian food, so that’s a big win! Secondly, Steve’s actually sorted out the details of the date, it’s real, this is happening! Thirdly, and most importantly, Steve is home! He’s back in New York. He’s safe and home and roughly 7 and a half miles away from Bucky right now! Bucky may have googled the distance from his station to Avengers Tower, so what, that’s a normal thing normal people do! He replies excitedly.

_ **Bucky Barnes – 16.38** _

_Hey Steve. Just got back from a call out. That sounds perfect, I love Italian food. The time and the pick-up are fine too. Address is Apartment 212, 467 Columbia St, Red Hook. I can’t wait. Bucky X_

_ **Steve ♥ - 16.40** _

_Fantastic. I can’t wait to see you. Hope the call out went well? Steve X_

_ **Bucky Barnes – 16.41** _

_It was an easy one. All fine. I’m really looking forward to seeing you too. Bucky XXX_

Oohh, he upped the kisses. Maybe he shouldn’t have? What the hell, he’s excited!

_ **Steve ♥ - 16.42** _

_:-D Steve XXX_

Okay, well, that’s alright then. God he really wants to kiss Steve for real, among other things! But it’s not time for that just yet! But he wants to, all of it, kissing and the other stuff! Uh oh! Thank god he needs a shower already cos he may have an issue to take care of again. Oops!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

The Avengers had arrived home just before 4pm, and Steve had immediately gone to shower, stripping out of his stealth suit, he places it on the side to go to be cleaned. Jumping under the spray from the shower head. Tony calls it a rainforest shower, Steve isn’t sure what that means, but it is heavenly. All his cuts and bruises are healed, but there is a little residual ache left and the pressure and heat of the water is amazing on his skin. When he’d finished in the shower he dressed in comfy clothes, sweatpants and a soft long sleeved Henley. He’d gone back out to the communal area to grab some food from the kitchen, he’s starving! Harley had come out to him then with a couple of suggestions Tony had given him and he shows Steve the restaurants on his phone to look at, and the smaller and known to be discreet Italian place seemed perfect, it’s only a short walk from Central Park, and the place has excellent reviews for its food. So Steve gives them a ring and books a table for Saturday night, then texts Bucky to let him know. He doesn’t get a reply right away, so Bucky must be out on a call. He can’t help a little bit of worry. He knows it’s Bucky’s job, that he’s been a firefighter all his working life, but he’s allowed to worry about the man! He cares, a lot! Maybe more than a lot! Oh! Before he can dwell on that revelation too much his phone beeps. Steve relaxes a bit after Bucky’s message. It’s great! He loves Italian food, so does Steve. Steve loves most food, but Italian is one of his absolute favourites. Him and his ma used to live in a tenement building and the old Italian lady who lived next to them used to occasionally overcook, and she’d let Sarah and Steve have the extra food. Some of the best meals they had where from Mrs Giatelli’s cast offs. He can’t wait to share this night with Bucky, to get know him better, to let Bucky know more about himself, to share a meal of food he loves with the man he’s fallen in love with…… 


	5. The Preperation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay posting this chapter. Hope you all enjoy it.  
I decided to add Happy in to the story, because I love Happy!  
I also love writing Becca, I totally imagine her as the sarcastic little sister who loves to wind Bucky up but adores him!  
I've also added another (awfully photoshopped) picture to show the boys date outfits. Bucky's is basically Seb's Civil War premier outfit!
> 
> As always, enjoy xXx

Bucky spends his day off prepping for his and Steve’s date. He realised when he’d got home the previous evening that the smartest clothes he owns were black jeans and a 2 year old red button down that had faded in the wash, so the first job on his list is shopping, yes he hates shopping, but he is certain any place Steve takes him for dinner will not be a jeans kind of place, and he wants to make a good impression, so out to the shops he goes. He returns 2 hours later with a nice basic smart black suit and a new button down in charcoal grey that the lady in the store said would bring out the blue in his eyes, he also picked up a silver and black tie to pair with it. He makes sure it’s all ironed before hanging it all up on his door so none of it gets crinkled in his wardrobe.

Next on the agenda is doing research on dating in the 20s-40s! Google is his new best friend, and he reads up as much as he can. Not all of it is useful as back then it was illegal for men to date men, even if they were soulmates, so most of the information he finds centres around a man and a woman dating. Things such as ‘make sure you wear a brassiere’ and ‘don’t talk about fashion’ certainly aren’t gonna be an issue for him, they do give him a good laugh though. But other things like ‘a man gives his dates order to the waiter’ may come in useful, Steve may want to order for him if he thinks it is good etiquette so Bucky knows to be cool about anything like that that Steve may do, stuff Bucky might have been annoyed by anyone else doing, it would just be Steve trying to show good manners in an old fashioned way. He also read that the man ‘organises the date and is essentially hosting it’ so even though Bucky would normally be adamant about paying for himself, he realises that Steve will almost definitely want to pay, and although it goes against his instinct he knows that letting Steve pay if he insists on doing so will make Steve happy, so he’ll swallow his pride if it happens. He’s glad his mom made him aware that there are differences between the times him and Steve grew up and the differences in expectations that presents. Hopefully there won’t be any issues like that for them, but he’ll be prepared if there are.

With as much prep as he can do for today done, he decides to go round to his mom and dad’s house and pay them a visit. His mom informed him the other day that she hadn’t told his dad or Becca anything about his situation yet as it was his news not hers. Bucky isn’t sure if he should tell them before anything definite happens between him and Steve, but he also doesn’t like keeping things from his family as they are pretty open, very accepting and completely supportive. So he’s made up his mind to tell them before the date. He knows they’ll want to share in his excitement of the good stuff, but he also knows they’ll be his best moral support if it goes badly. SO he grabs his phone and texts Becca.

** _Bucky Barnes – 16.48_ **

_Hey Becs. I’m heading 2 mom and dads. Got some news. U free?_

** _Becca Barnes – 16.50_ **

_Yo Buckeroo. UR in luck, I’ve got nothing on *sad times* catch u there in 30? X_

** _Bucky Barnes – 16.51_ **

_GR8 see U soon X_

So Bucky grabs his stuff and heads out. Half an hour later he’s at his parent’s front door, walking straight in as he always does and heading straight for the kitchen, because that’s where he always finds his parents in the afternoon. He enters the kitchen to the sight of his father George pouring a beer in to a glass. “Son, good to see you, want a beer?” his dad asks. “Sure pops, thanks” Bucky says sitting at the table as his dad grabs another beer from the fridge and snaps the lid off passing it to Bucky who he knows never want’s a glass. “Becs will be here soon too, I text her” Bucky informs his dad. “Well, both of you in one afternoon, do I need to call our lawyer?” George jokes, “ha ha pops” Bucky says in monotone giving him the trademark Winnie Barnes 1 raised eyebrow. “Stop that, I get enough of that look from your mother” his dad shudders and Bucky laughs, then they hear the front door open and Becca walks in to join them at the kitchen table. “Hey you started without me?” she complains to them. George gets up to grab another beer from the fridge but Becca stops him with a gesture saying “wine please papa bear” so George goes to the pantry pulling out a bottle of red wine instead and pouring a glass.

Winnie comes in from the back garden then and seeing the little gathering breaks out into a huge smile. “How lovely, all of us together. To what do we owe the pleasure of both our children visiting at the same time?” she asks. Becca nods at Bucky “Buckeroo’s got news” she says matter-of-factly. Winnie looks at Bucky and winks. Bucky lets out a breath and staring at his beer bottle says “I’ve got a date tomorrow”. Both his dad and Becca’s jaws drop open as they stare at him, his mom doesn’t say a word and just moves to pour herself a glass of the wine George left on the side. Bucky gives his dad and Becca a quick glance each, they are both still mute apparently, before continuing “I met him just over a week ago, saved him from a fire we were called out to”, another glance, nope still nothing, “he asked me out, we text everyday” he can’t stop the soft smile that spreads across his face now and finishes with “I’m certain he’s my soulmate”.

George’s eyebrows have crept so far up his face they are almost in his hairline now, whereas Becca looks like she’s about to cry and throws herself at Bucky wrapping her older brother in a hug and all she seems able to say is “Bucky, oh my god, Bucky” over and over. Winnie looks at Bucky with a big smile and gives him a nod of approval. George seems to remember he has the ability to speak and says “well would you believe it, we were all sure your sister would be the first, but blow me down! Happy for you son, real happy” and he grabs Bucky’s hand to shake it but it quickly turns into a manly hug seeing as Becca has finally let go of her brother, brushing a few stray tears from her eyes. Then George says “so tell us about him son. What’s his name, what does he do?” and Bucky looks back to Winnie for guidance of how much to say, Winnie looks at him and says “you can tell us all James darling” so he launches into the story of how Steve and he met and all that has happened since.

George and Becca look suitably stunned through the story and when Bucky finishes speaking they all sit in silence for a minute. Winnie breaks it by saying “I’m going to put on some dinner for us all” and busying herself around the kitchen. Bucky sits finishing off his beer and waiting for the inevitable questions from his dad and sister. The look of shock finally leaves Becca’s face and she smiles at him and holds her hand up for a high five that Bucky laughingly returns, then she says “way to go, big bro. Leave it to you to go your entire life without a partner, then pull an Avenger of all people without even trying” and Bucky blushes bright red making her laugh again. George finally speaks up then and says “you are 100% certain it is actually Captain America?” he rolls his eyes and says “yeah pops of course I am, like I said, we’ve seen each other in person twice, it’s not like I’ve picked him up on a dating website”, and George nods and says “sorry son, I just don’t want you getting hurt is all” sheepishly. “I know pops, and I appreciate the concern, really, but you don’t have to worry, it’s definitely him, he’s a really good guy” Bucky replies. It’s nice after that, the family share a beautiful stir fry meal cooked by Winnie and a few more drinks, while the talk moves on to more general things, and Bucky is reminded again what an awesome family he is blessed to have.

Saturday dawns and Bucky spends the majority of the day keeping busy and trying not to get too nervous. He does a food shop to stock up in the morning. Then he has a big clear up of his apartment, a big dishwasher load, a pile of laundry, cleaning the kitchen, bathroom, his bedroom and the lounge, he even remakes his bed with fresh sheets and cover. With everything he can think of done, and the afternoon creeping on, he begins to get himself ready for the date. He has a nice hot bath rather than a shower, as it’s more relaxing, washes his hair and even treats it to conditioner. Then he shaves, he’s never minded the scruff on his face but this is a special occasion so he wants to be fresh faced. Then he gets his new clothes on and spraying himself with the nice aftershave Becca got him for his birthday, hoping Steve will like the scent as much as he does. When he’s finished he returns to the bathroom to check himself in the full length mirror. He preens a bit, adjusting his hair a little, he’d used a non-sticky gel to hold it, straightening his tie a little.

Then he hears his buzzer sound so strides to the door and presses the button “Hello” he says into the mic, “Hello Mr Barnes, my name is Happy Hogan and I’m here to drive you to dinner with Mr Rogers” the polite man on the other end of the line says. “Great I’ll be down in just 2 minutes” Bucky replies into it, “certainly sir, I’ll wait at the car for you” the other guy, Happy, says releasing the button. Bucky puts his phone on silent and grabs his wallet too, because he isn’t gonna just assume, he takes his door key off the ring of keys and pops it into his wallet, then pockets everything and leaves the apartment. When he gets to the street he sees a sleek black Mercedes parked right there and a large guy with a wide smile standing next to it, ‘I can see why his name is Happy’ Bucky thinks to himself and walks over. “Mr Barnes, please make yourself comfortable” Happy says opening the door for him and Bucky slides into the car onto the plush leather seat and whistles a long high note, “nice” he mutters, “thank you sir, it’s one of Mr Stark’s personal favourites” Happy tells him, and Bucky can’t help feeling a little star struck. Then Happy starts the car and they drive off, the beautiful car ferrying him off to meet Steve, and Bucky can’t help the mix of nervousness and excitement that runs through him.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Steve wakes up Saturday morning feeling stupidly excited. Since his revelation that he’s fallen in love with Bucky, all he can think about is seeing him again in person. Despite most of their interactions having been through text, they get along so well that Steve feels like he’s known Bucky all his life, he actually can’t believe it’s been only just over a week. The highlights of his day are the text messages they send each other. Bucky is such a cool person, he’s funny and charming and sweet in his messages, and his concern for Steve through the whole Spain mission made Steve’s heart ache. He seemed so genuinely worried about him. Like Steve isn’t an actual super soldier who was basically designed for that sort of thing. But Bucky hadn’t cared, he just worried about Steve, and had told him as much. Which is crazy but wonderful considering the length of time they’ve known each other.

Now Steve has a lot of nice clothes courtesy of the money he hadn’t known he was entitled to when waking from the ice, his military back-pay and then his S.H.I.E.L.D pay before it went under. When the Avengers had ended Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D along with them, Tony and Pepper had offered to start an investment portfolio for him and manage it so that he would never have to worry about money, and he’d figured who better to do that than Pepper ‘CEO herself’ Stark. Well that was a great move, because now he has a small fortune in his bank account, not Tony and Pepper level, but more than he’d have been able to make in his lifetime if he’d been around to live and work all 101 years of it in real-time. Couple that with the fact that he lives in Avengers tower which Stark Industries owns and runs, and both Pepper and Tony refuse to let any Avenger pay rent for, Tony calls it the ‘you save the world now reap the benefits’ discount, and the fact that they keep the fridges topped up, pay all the bills, and even his phone is a Stark phone, well he has a very good income and almost no expenditure! Despite all of this and his well-stocked wardrobe, he still can’t find something to wear for the date.

He’s not sure what to do, and wants some advice, but he doesn’t wanna bother Harley with it. Advice on soulmates and restaurants is one thing, asking him for fashion tips is something else. But whoever he tells will then also know his situation. Now people knowing about Bucky isn’t the issue, its people knowing he’s got a date that is! Tony and Clint would tease him ridiculously, Nat would probably want to run every intelligence programme that exists over Bucky and have him followed, Bruce would probably ask about his medical history, Thor has the worst sense of what is appropriate to talk about and what isn’t ever (it’s not his fault really, he is an alien god), he doesn’t know Rhodey well enough, Vision is an AI, and the twins are too young really, he doesn’t wanna put that on them. He realises that leaves one person, the perfect person actually! Taking out his phone he selects the number and presses dial. It rings twice before it’s picked up. “Steve, how are you” the musical tones of Pepper Stark’s voice chime out. “I’m good Pepper thanks, and you?” he asks, “I’m great Steve, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?” she asks him, “I was wondering if I could ask you a favour?” Steve says.

40 minutes later, Pepper Stark is sat on the chair in Steve’s room as he sits on the end of his bed explaining the situation to her, giving her the back story from when he first met Bucky. “… and so our date is tonight and now I’m stuck on what to wear. I’ve never done this before” he finishes blushing slightly. Pepper looks at him with such a sincere happiness and says “thank you so much for trusting me with this Steve, I couldn’t be more thrilled for you, and I promise I’ll keep it to myself until you’re ready to tell everyone” she says, “thanks Pepper. I’m sure it won’t be long before I tell everyone, but for now we’re just starting out, and I won’t touch him until he tells me that’s what he wants, so we won’t know if we’re definitely soulmates until then either. I feel like we are, but that’s no guarantee” Steve replies. “Of course Steve, you’re a good man! Anyway, let’s have a look at this clothing situation” she says standing and walking into Steve’s closet.

Steve steps out of his amazing shower and towels himself dry. He shaves and dresses in the outfit Pepper picked out for him. Black dress trousers, a white button down, a dark blue suit-jacket with black lapels, and finished off with a black bow-tie. Steve had thought the bow-tie might be too much, but Pepper had assured him it made him look very handsome and showed he was going the extra mile, so he’d decided to go with it. He’s slicked his blonde hair back and then decided to add a white pocket square to the jacket, because why not, if he’s being ‘extra’ as Harley and the twins would say, then he might as well go for it. Pepper had also offered to ask Happy to chauffeur Bucky for him tonight when Steve had told her he was going to order a cab for Bucky, and Steve tells her that would be great if Happy doesn’t mind, Pepper called Happy who was glad to help and promised not to tell anyone, before she’d left Steve to it, Steve does feel better knowing Bucky will be with Happy who is a brilliant driver and Pepper’s head of security, not to mention that the vast majority of Tony’s cars are bulletproof, not that he expects anything to happen, but just knowing Bucky has those extra safety measures makes him feel more relaxed. Steve decides to get himself a cab to the restaurant to be there a little earlier than Bucky will be, so he can greet him outside, like a gentleman should. He’s getting a bit more nervous now, but is mostly just excited to see Bucky again, and he gives himself a pep-talk, telling himself if he can face down the Red Skull then he can certainly get through a date!

Steve is stood outside the little Italian restaurant he picked, it’s a cool evening, but not cold, fall is just around the corner now, but it’s still warm enough to not need a jacket or coat. He thinks that maybe, if dinner goes well, the two of them could go for a walk together after, Central Park is just a short distance away, and the cloudless night would be perfect for a stroll through the park under the stars. Just then Steve sees a beautiful black Mercedes pull onto the road and he walks over to the curb, knowing the car is one of Tony’s from the Stark Industries plates on it. The car pulls to a stop and Steve opens the rear door for Bucky, who steps out and stands turning back around to see Steve who forgets to breath for a second. Bucky looks stunning! His button down really makes his eyes sparkle with the hint of blue in them, he’s clean shaven and the gel in his hair makes it look like rich dark coffee. Steve just stares for a few seconds taking in this beautiful man in front of him, Bucky smiling shyly, before remembering his manners and finally speaking. “Hi Bucky, you look stunning” he tells him. Bucky blushes a little but replies “thanks Steve, you look amazing too” and Steve smiles wide at the compliment. He offers Bucky his arm saying “shall we?” and gesturing towards the restaurant. Bucky blushes again at the gesture but hooks his arm under Steve’s making sure his hand stays on the sleeve of his suit-jacket, and they walk towards the restaurant door together.


	6. The Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go!!!!! *does happy dance*
> 
> This chapter is written entirely from Bucky's perspective as I felt it would get a bit too confusing to keep swapping perspective! 
> 
> Enjoy the fluffiness! xXx

The restaurant is elegant yet cosy and they are shown to a table that is situated near to the back and away from prying eyes. It is beautifully lit, and as they reach the table Steve moves to pull the chair out for Bucky, and Bucky can feel a light blush dust his cheeks again at the gesture, he wonders if he’s going to be doing that all night? Blushing that is. Steve seats himself then and looks over at Bucky, that soft smile back on his face and says “it’s so good to see you Bucky, you really do look gorgeous” then he blushes himself. Bucky lets out a small laugh and smiles wide, “Steve, thank you, I scrub up okay I guess, I spend half my time in uniform so anything other than jeans is a pretty big change for me” he says, making Steve laugh. “I guess I can understand that” Steve replies “it’s similar to when I’m in my Cap suit, otherwise I spend most of my time in civvies, rare that I get to wear a suit” he finishes waving a hand at his clothes. “Well I’ve seen you in sweats, jeans, your Cap uniform and now a suit, and I can officially say, you are the most handsome man I’ve ever seen in all of them” Bucky says, mentally high fiving himself for that one as Steve blushes a dark red. “Thanks Bucky” he manages to get out.

A waitress comes over with menus and a wine list then, and they both take a minute to look them over. Steve asks Bucky what he’d like to drink, and Bucky tells him he’s happy with a beer and when the waitress returns Steve orders them both the house beer, and when the waitress asks for their food order Steve gestures Bucky to place his first, pleasantly surprising Bucky. Bucky orders a truffle risotto with a side of focaccia bread with balsamic vinegar, oil and olives, then Steve orders pasta carbonara and a rare steak with a side salad and garlic ciabatta bread. The waitress looks a little surprised, but Steve just smiles politely as she takes the order away to the kitchen. Bucky can’t help it “wow, when you said you eat a lot you meant it huh” he jokes, Steve laughs and replies “I did pre-warn you” and Bucky just smiles wider at him and says “don’t worry, I think it’s cute” with a wink, successfully making Steve blush again.

Their drinks are brought over and they both take a sip, and it’s nice, there is a comfortable silence for a minute, it doesn’t feel awkward at all with Steve, until Steve speaks again, “so tell me about your family Bucky” and brownie points to Steve, his family is the most important thing in his life. He smiles widely and says “my mom and dad are great, they met first day of high school and knew they were soulmates, they own a café. My sister Becca is a vet, she’s un-bonded, she’s pretty cool, just don’t tell her I said that” he laughs, Steve smiles and replies “they sound great Bucky”, “they are great, I uuhh… I told them all about you” Bucky says tentatively. Steve makes that soft smile again and says “yeah?” questioningly, and he looks really pleased, which encourages Bucky’s honesty. “Yeah, they’re important to me, you’re important to me too” he tells Steve blushing slightly again, and Bucky decides the look Steve gives him at that sentence can only be described as heart-eyes. “Bucky! You know I feel the same, right?” Steve replies softly, and Bucky smiles and nods.

The waitress brings out their food then and they take turns asking each other questions and giving answers while they eat. Bucky is impressed at not only the amount of food Steve can eat, but the speed he eats it at, he’s got 2 mains and sides to Bucky’s 1 of each and yet they still finish at the same time. “Wow Steve, I’m kinda speechless” Bucky says eyeing his empty plates. Steve blushes and shrugs simply saying “super serum” with a wink, and Bucky laughs again. It’s just so easy to be with Steve, despite this being the longest time they have physically been together in the same place, and despite most of their interaction being by text, and despite the drastically different backgrounds and upbringings, Bucky feels like he’s known Steve forever, it’s just comfortable, but it’s also exciting and Steve is fun to be with, he’s sweet, interesting and funny. Bucky’s pretty sure he could listen to Steve talk for hours and never get bored of the sound of his voice. The waitress returns taking their empty plates, then comes back to ask if they want to order desert, and they both decide on some gelato with Steve adding a portion of tiramisu as well.

They talk through desert too, and the whole meal has probably been one of the best Bucky has ever had, not just the food, but the company too. Once the deserts are cleared from the table, Steve asks for the check, and then (as Bucky expected) insists on paying for the whole meal, so Bucky just thanks him sweetly, which makes Steve beam with pride, and honestly, Bucky can’t even be annoyed with that beautiful happy face smiling so genuinely at him! “Uumm, I don’t suppose you’d like to take a walk through Central Park with me? It’s just around the corner from here and it’s such a nice night” Steve asks him. “That sounds perfect Steve” Bucky replies, thoroughly enjoying that huge beaming smile Steve gives him again, and they exit the restaurant, Steve holding the door for Bucky again then offering him his arm again, like before Bucky takes it and the two men walk off together, Bucky following Steve’s lead to the park.

Central Park is beautiful, the cloudless sky allowing the moon to shine down upon it turning the normally colourful visage to shades of grey and black highlighted in silver. The two men follow one of the paths towards The Pond, Bucky still holding on to Steve’s arm. He can feel the bulk of Steve’s muscles through the suit jacket and he can’t help the little voice in his mind that says ‘wait till you get to touch them for real’, and he’s grateful it’s dark so Steve won’t be able to see his face flame bright red. They continue to talk as they walk together. Bucky asks Steve questions about what it was like growing up back in the 20s and Steve tells him about the differences and similarities there are. They reach The Pond and begin to walk around it leisurely. “What about your family Steve? I mean, I know you were an only child but, were you close to your parents?” Bucky asks. Steve looks a little sad then but replies “well my dad died in world war one before I was born, so I never got to meet him, but my ma used to tell me about him, and we had some photos. Half of the clothes and things I had growing up had been his, so that helped me feel close to him, of course they were all huge on me!” he laughs “but I was really close to my ma. She was an incredible lady. Worked as a nurse, and she managed to look after my sickly ass and patch me up after all the fights I got into too” he continues with a sad smile. Bucky’s heart aches for him so he says “so running head first into fights wasn’t just a wartime occupation for you then” with a cheeky smile and a wink, and that gets Steve laughing hard and Bucky’s quite proud of that. “I guess not” Steve says through a chuckle as he calms down.

They find a bench to sit on then and Steve puts his arm around Bucky’s shoulder, still only touching his suit jacket with his hand, but it’s more intimate, and Bucky just feels completely content in Steve’s arms. It feels so right to be with him, the edges of their bodies pressed against each other through their clothes, and all Bucky wants at that moment is Steve to take his hand, or turn and kiss him. He’s about to tell Steve he wants him to touch him, when Steve tenses and removes his arm from around Bucky, who feels suddenly chilled at the loss of contact. Steve looks him in the eye while reaching in his pocket and pulling out his phone, which is vibrating with a call. “I’m so sorry Bucky, the Avengers had strict instructions to not contact me tonight unless it was an emergency, I’m gonna need to take this call” he says but he holds the phone in his hand and hasn’t yet answered it, as if seeking Bucky’s permission to do so. As much as Bucky would like to, he knows he can’t monopolise Steve if he is needed for something only the Avengers can deal with, regardless of how gutted he may be that the perfect evening has to end early. “Its fine Steve, go ahead” he says with a soft if slightly sad smile. Steve returns that as he answers the call and says “Go ahead Tony”, then he listens for a minute before saying “copy that, eta 20 minutes” and clicking the phone off. “Well, that’s not how I wanted this evening to end, I really am sorry Bucky. Can you forgive me?” Steve asks him looking devastated. “Steve it’s fine, honestly! I’ve had the most amazing evening with you. And yeah it sucks it’s got to end earlier than we’d both like, but duty calls you know, and I get that” Bucky tells him. “You are incredible!” Steve says with such adoration in his tone, and Bucky wishes he could grab Steve and kiss him, but he can’t, not like this, with Steve about to leave. “Come with me” Steve says, and they start walking quickly to the nearest park exit, Steve selecting a number on his phone and pressing the call button, holding it to his ear, the person must answer as Steve then says “Happy, hi, I need you to collect Bucky from our current location and take him home, thanks” and he ends the call. They wait 5 minutes, then the beautiful Mercedes from earlier pulls up. Steve turns to Bucky and in a genuinely unsure tone asks “can I see you again?” Bucky lets a little laugh out and nods “of course you can Steve, I’d love to see you again. I had a great time tonight. Thank you” Steve’s face relaxes and he says “me too Bucky. Thanks for understanding” and Bucky nods again and says “you can make it up to me” with a wink, then more seriously says “be careful Steve, let me know when you’re home safe”. Steve shoots him a mock salute with a smile and Bucky gets in the car, closing the door, Happy pulls away from the curb and he sees Steve turn and run off at a ridiculously fast pace for someone wearing a suit in the direction of Avengers tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooooohhhhh!!!!
> 
> Warning! Angst ahead! Sorry!
> 
> *hides in a corner*


	7. The Battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is also written entirely from Bucky's perspective!
> 
> Enjoy xXx

Bucky wakes up the next morning with a smile on his face and memories of the night before in his head, that is until he remembers the phone call! He bolts upright in his bed and grabs his phone off the bedside table. Unlocking it he ignores all the notifications as none of them have Steve’s name, and immediately brings up google typing in Avengers to the search bar. Clicking on the first link for a news site he reads through the article. It appears that strange portals began to open in some location in Brazil and started spewing out these weird alien creatures. Even Thor, who hadn’t been seen for a few months (Steve had told him he was home on Asgard with his wife Lady Sif), had appeared via the Bifrost to help in the battle with a group of Asgardian warriors. The last update on the news site said that the armed forces of Brazil were holding a line against the aliens, but that there were still portals opening at random.

Bucky, phone in hand, runs to his sofa flicks the TV on and to a 24 hour news channel. The news report showing grainy video footage, obviously taken from a distance, of a battleground. You can see clusters of aliens and fighters, some of the flying Avengers are immediately obvious; Ironman’s red and gold suit, Vision shooting gold beams from his head, there’s Iron-Lad in his red and silver suit, the scarlet witch is obvious too with her magical red energy shooting out from her hands and the bulky grey suit of War Machine can be seen too. Every so often, a blue crackle of lightning will spark out from somewhere in the mass of aliens, so that’ll be Thor then, and an occasional view of the Hulk can be seen. But it’s impossible to make out Steve, or Hawkeye, Black Widow and Quicksilver. That makes Bucky very anxious!

At that moment a loud banging starts up at his apartment door, making Bucky jump at least a foot off the sofa. He jogs to open it revealing Becca and Winnie who both step in pulling him into a group hug that brings tears to his eyes. They knew he’d be worrying, they came to support and comfort him, god he loves his family so much! He pulls back trying to blink the tears away and heads back to the sofa, dropping on to it like a sack of stones. His mom and sister follow and sit either side of him and take one of his hands each. He squeezes them gently. They all sit for a while watching the live stream of the battle on the news channel.

20 minutes pass then on the screen they see what looks like another portal open, this one is huge and it’s not the odd sickly green colour of the alien’s portals, it looks more like sparks of orange. Then a mass of people come through, they all seem to have lit up shields around their hands, and they begin to attack the aliens. Apparently Earth has allies! The battle really starts to turn in the humans favour after that, and most of the groups of aliens have been killed, Earth’s forces re-grouping. The camera that is filming the footage seems to get a bit closer with this turning of the tide, and that’s when he spots him! He can see a slightly grainy figure of a man in blue with accents of red and white, carrying a circular shield in matching colours!

A sob of relief escapes Bucky’s lips then and Becca and Winnie both crowd in closer, hugging him tight, lending him their strength as the relief washes over him, tears dripping freely down his face now, but he doesn’t even care! Steve is alive, he must be okay if he’s standing and walking and interacting with others. Winnie, who seems to have a slightly shaky voice herself at her son’s show of emotion, stands then and says “I’m going to make us all coffee, god knows I need one” and Bucky just nods, not quite trusting himself to speak yet. Becca replies for them both it seems “thanks mom”. Bucky takes a shaky breath and manages to say “thank you both” looking at his mom and squeezing Becca’s hand again. They both smile back at him. Winnie brings over their coffees and they sip them quietly watching the screen again.

Not 5 minutes later a big purple portal opens on the field, and what looks like a huge being in gold armour appears out of it. The whole mass of collective Avengers, Asgardians and allies (whoever they are) run at the being. The next 10 minutes are a blur of various coloured energy discharges, some of Earth’s forces clearly being injured, some sadly are clearly dead. War Machine is knocked out of the sky at one point, a robot of Starks Iron Legion appearing to fly the clearly injured Avenger away. Then the one thing Bucky has been dreading happens! He sees Steve on the screen take a hit from an energy discharge from the huge alien. The shot sends Steve flying across the field and, when he comes to a stop, lays motionless on the ground. Bucky gasps as this happens and drops his coffee mug to the floor, the mug shattering like Bucky’s heart just did! Winnie and Becca gasp too and grab Bucky again as the sobs come unhindered from his throat now. The screen shows the remaining Avengers and allies manage to get a hold on the huge alien and Thor can be seen decapitating it. The fight is over after that. But Bucky doesn’t care! All he can do is stare at the unmoving body of the man he loves as a host of Iron Legion robots arrive to carry Steve off.

Bucky is crying freely, and Winnie and Becca do not have any idea what to say to him, or what to do. They just sit rubbing his back, staring shocked at the TV screen. Winnie turns the TV off when the news ticker along the bottom starts displaying ‘Breaking News: Captain America dead?’ They all sit silent and still, tears running down Bucky’s face drenching his pyjama top in salty water. Then Bucky’s phone rings. He grabs it and says with a wrecked sounding voice “hello”. “Is this James Barnes?” the voice of a woman asks calmly, Bucky doesn’t recognise the voice but he answers her “yeah, yes it is”. “James my name is Pepper Stark, Steve gave me your number to call should anything happen to him” the lady, Pepper, states. Bucky can hear the sound of the sob that comes out of him, but he clears his throat and manages to choke out “is he………..”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my only acknowledgement of Infinity War and Endgame! (because FUCK Endgame's ending!)
> 
> In this AU, Thanos is defeated in the first fight with Earth as Tony, Steve and Thor are all together right from the start, the un-subtle hint was that it's the Sorcerers that come in to help in the battle, and Hela and Ragnarok have not happened on Asgard yet as Thor was never wandering the galaxy looking for Infinity stones, hence why Thor could bring a force of Asgardian warriors to fight in the battle. When Thanos arrived on Earth he only had the soul, reality and power stones. 
> 
> Right, having said all that I'm gonna go hide in my corner again! Sorry!


	8. The Sparks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *steps nervously out of the naughty corner*
> 
> Here have this chapter to enjoy! (Written from Bucky's perspective again)
> 
> xXx

Bucky sits in the car that pepper sent for him. He is fidgeting with his own hands, not really knowing what to do with them. He’s scared! For the first time in his life he’s actually scared. He can face down a raging fire, collapsed buildings, horrific traffic accidents, the odd natural disaster, without fear, confident in his training and abilities. But this, being transported by private car to Avengers tower, to see the man who may or may not be his soulmate but that he’s in love with regardless, is torturous! Not knowing whether that man is still alive, if he is alive how injured he may be, and if he’s injured whether it will be severe, permanent or whether Steve’s usually amazing healing factor will fix him? So yeah, he’s scared!

The car pulls into an underground garage. Stopping next to a set of elevator doors. Happy opens Bucky’s door for him, and walks him the short distance to the elevator, swiping a card over a sensor pad, he then turns to Bucky and says “this building is equipped with an artificial intelligence system called F.R.I.D.A.Y, she has been given your details and will bio-scan you as soon as you step in the elevator. Once that is done she’ll take you to the medical floor. Pepper will meet you there” he explains. Bucky nods and says “okay, thanks Happy” not even able to crack a smile to the helpful man. “He’s got the best medical care in the world here. He couldn’t be in better hands” Happy reassures him, and Bucky appreciates it, with a nod he steps up to the elevator and the doors open. Stepping in and turning around he gives Happy a small wave as the doors close. “Good afternoon Lieutenant Barnes” a female voice with a soft Irish accent speaks from nowhere, making him jump a little. “Uuhh, Friday?” he asks, “correct Lieutenant. It stands for Female Replacement Intelligent Digital Assistant Youth” the voice tells him and, well, that’s gonna take some getting used to, he’s never had a building talk to him before! “Bio-scans complete, you now have Gold Level access as per Captain Rogers’ instructions, I will now take you to the medical floor Lieutenant” she informs him. “Uuhh thanks” Bucky replies, “you’re welcome Lieutenant” F.R.I.D.A.Y replies.

Not even a full minute passes and the doors slide open making Bucky jump slightly again, he hadn’t even felt the elevator move! A beautiful woman with strawberry blonde hair in a sharp pant suit stands by the elevator doors, Bucky recognises her from photos of her in the media “Mrs Stark” he greets her. “James, good to meet you, though I wish it had been under different circumstances” she replies. “Yeah me too” Bucky states. “How is he?” he asks her. “They are still finishing up their scans and assessment in there” she tells him, “as soon as they are out they’ll let us know. Bucky shuffles his feet a little and slightly nervously says “uumm isn’t that like, I mean, will they actually tell me, I mean, I’m not like his next of kin or anything you know”. Pepper smiles at him and says “James, Steve put in a request in writing from the date of his last mission that should anything happen to him you be contacted, and also that in the event of his injury you be notified of his condition”. All Bucky can think of to say is “oh” as he realises that Steve would have known exactly how something like this would affect him and made sure he’d be kept informed about it all. Steve showing again what a thoughtful and caring man he is. ‘God I love him so much’ Bucky thinks to himself.

A door opens then and out walk 2 people, one of whom Bucky recognises as Bruce Banner, the other he has never seen before. They walk up to him and Pepper and Bruce says “is this him?” with a mildly curious expression. Pepper nods and introduces him, “James, this is Doctor Bruce Banner and Doctor Helen Cho, they are 2 of the brightest medical minds you’ll ever meet, and the best care Steve could ask for. Bruce, Helen, this is James Barnes”. Helen greets him then and Bucky nods to them both and says “nice to meet you both. How is he?” Helen speaks then and says “he is doing remarkably well considering the circumstances. The hit he took would have killed a normal human instantly. His healing factor is truly remarkable”, Bruce nods then and continues for her “basically he’s gonna feel like he got hit by a mountain for a few days. He has 5 cracked ribs, a broken wrist, broken clavicle, broken femur, and bruising to about 60% of his body. But his healing factor has already sealed all the lacerations he had, stopped and repaired what internal bleeding he had and he slept off the concussion he had on the trip back here. So although he’ll be in pain, the breaks should all be fully healed within about 4 days. He’s conscious and asking for you though” Bruce finishes. Bucky’s mouth dropped open during that speech, and he manages to close it and offer a small smile to the doctors. “Can I see him now?” he asks. “You may, just be gentle with him. He’ll try to deny it, but healing factor or not, he’ll be hurting” Helen informs him with a gentle smile. “We’ll give you two some privacy” Pepper says and walks off to a seating area with the 2 doctors.

Bucky walks towards the door they came out of. Pushing one side open slightly and squeezing through the gap. He looks up and there in a hospital bed, propped up, covered in bruises, but still managing to look like a renaissance painting, is Steve, who looks over and gives Bucky the most beautiful smile that Bucky’s ever seen. Bucky walks over to the bed sits on the edge and with tears in his eyes simply says “Steve, can I?” Steve, knowing exactly what it is that Bucky is asking simply replies “yes Buck”

Bucky lifts his hands, which are shaking slightly, and raises them up to Steve’s face, pausing for a few seconds, giving Steve the chance to change his mind, but Steve simply smiles wider and gives the slightest nod, Bucky takes Steve’s face in his hands, finally connected skin-to-skin. At the exact moment they touch a swirl of blue and red lights and sparks surrounds them, the red coming from Bucky and the blue from Steve, their soul colours, twining around the 2 figures, both men’s eyes widening as they take in the vivid display, the swirl continues up to just above their heads and twirls around their legs down to the soles of their feet, some lights mixing and merging into swirls of purple. Then it hits Bucky, he can feel Steve’s emotions, he can feel Steve’s love for him, like a flaming beacon, it’s so bright it almost burns, he can feel Steve’s worry for him, his sense of peace that Bucky is here with him, his joy at the bond that is being created between them. And Bucky realises that Steve can see every one of his emotions in his mind too, can see the dread Bucky felt watching Steve fall, his despair at not knowing if Steve was alive, the relief as the doctors told him Steve would be ok, and above all, his own blindingly bright love for Steve, and his utter joy and contentment at knowing Steve is his. As the connection deepens two bright lights, one red on Bucky, and one Blue on Steve, begin to move down their heads, each moving to their left shoulders where the light brightens turning to a blinding purple like a painless flame against the skin of their arms, and there it stays for a few seconds before fading down, the swirls around them beginning to disappear too. When all the lights and sparks have dissipated both men, breathing harder, at the same time move their right hands to lift up the sleeves of their tops on their left arms to expose the flesh there. Sitting in the exact same place on both of their left shoulders is a large purple star. Their soul-bond mark!

Both of their eyes move at the same time to look lovingly at the matching mark on their soulmate’s shoulder. Then they look into each other’s eyes. Bucky can’t wait any longer, he leans forward and presses his lips to Steve’s both their eyes close, and Steve tilts his head slightly to deepen the kiss and they stay like that for a few seconds, until Bucky lets his tongue lightly run along Steve’s bottom lip, hearing the soft moan from Steve at that Bucky does it again, and this time Steve opens his mouth slightly inviting Bucky in, and then their tongues are dancing together, exploring each other, there’s no frenzy, it’s relaxed and intimate, and loving and exciting and so filled with joy. Bucky realises he can still feel Steve’s joy and excitement too, can steel feel the love radiating out from him like he’s the sun shining just for Bucky, he can sense that Steve is becoming aroused too, and that makes him pull back a little to break the kiss, and although Steve whimpers slightly at the loss of contact, Bucky knows Steve is in no condition to take this further right now, however much he might want to as well!

They both pull back a bit, panting slightly. Looking into each other’s eyes again. Both men smiling and broadcasting their love to each other so clearly. Then Steve speaks the first words since Bucky asked to touch him. “It’s you! I knew it was you! I love you”, Bucky’s heart feels heavy with love and he’s never been happier than he is right now, despite the stress and upset of the last day, it’s been made irrelevant by this! Their bond! “I love you too, so much” he says reverently. Taking Steve’s hand and kissing it, they sit in silent awe of each other and their newfound bond for a minute before Bucky suddenly says “did you just give my nickname a nickname?” Steve looks a bit confused until Bucky explains “you called me Buck” with a smirk. Steve blushes before laughing and saying “uumm yeah I guess I did”, Bucky laughs too then “I like it, feels like it’s just for you! My soulmate, my Steve” he tells him. Steve looks back into Bucky’s eyes and simply says “my Bucky, my soulmate, my love”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter made up for the last one! xXx


	9. The Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluffiness coming your way! 
> 
> As always, enjoy xXx

Steve was bored! Like, really bored! Bruce and Helen had ordered that he not leave his hospital bed in the medical wing except to go to the bathroom, for the full 4 days it would take for the breaks his body was riddled with to heal. Don’t get me wrong, he was glad it would only take 4 days to heal, not months like a regular human would have taken, but still, he was bored. The thing was, since Bucky touched him, since the best moment of his life happened as Bucky became his soulmate, he could feel Bucky’s emotions all the time, even when they weren’t together. He was pretty sure that wasn’t normal, at least he’d never heard anything like it from anyone he knew who was bonded. He sat in the bed, on his own during the brief periods that Bucky had to leave him, and he had begun to contemplate this unusual aspect of their bond.

After the touch, Bucky had stayed with him through that whole afternoon and through the night. All PG, no kinky stuff, just lying on the bed next to him, the two of them close together, finally able to touch skin-to-skin. Steve loved the fact that Bucky couldn’t seem to stop touching him now he knew it was something he was allowed to do. Little brushes of his hand over Steve’s cheek, affectionate touches to his arms, the occasional run of his hand through Steve’s hair, and best of all, the soft loving kisses Bucky would press to Steve’s lips, his face his hands or the top of his head. Steve loved them the most. He equally couldn’t keep his hands off of Bucky. The constant little touches and kisses easing Steve’s touch starved soul. But probably the best thing about those moments was just being able to feel Bucky’s love for him himself, it burned so bright in Steve’s mind that he knew if it was visible he’d be blinded. He basked in it, thrilled to bits that he found the person who completed him! He hadn’t lost them to time!

So after that first night together, the following morning Bucky had called his boss at work and explained the situation, that he had bonded and that his soulmate was injured, he asked to take some of his annual leave as an emergency to be with his soulmate while he recovered. He hadn’t told his boss who he had bonded with, that was a discussion for another time, but he had promised to introduce him soon and Tim had been very understanding, congratulating Bucky and telling him he could take as much time as he needed and wishing his unknown soulmate a speedy recovery. Little did Tim know how speedy it would actually be!

Pepper had come in a little later in the morning to tell Bucky that he was welcome to stay in the tower as long as he wished, giving him a gold access swipe pass and letting him know he had access to all the Avengers communal living areas should he need anything. She had congratulated the 2 on their new bond, both men thanking her, unable to keep from looking to each other with smiles of sheer joy and affection, and pepper had felt so unbelievably happy for Steve who had always seemed so alone despite the company of the other Avengers and Stark Industries personnel he had got to know.

It wasn’t until Bucky had left the room to head up to Steve’s own rooms to use the facilities, shower, brush his teeth and change into some fresh clothes of Steve’s, that Steve realised he could still sense Bucky’s feelings. He would definitely have to check in with someone on that. A short while after Bucky had left the medical room, he sensed Bucky was feeling shy and awkward, probably to do with being in Steve’s clothes, and it amused him, then he sensed Bucky’s confusion, then amusement and happiness, and suspected that Bucky had probably just realised he was still sensing Steve too.

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Bucky reached Steve’s rooms and let himself in, feeling slightly out of place but knowing from Steve and pepper that he was welcome there. He got himself clean and rummaged through Steve’s wardrobe and drawers finding sweatpants and a t-shirt that looked like they’d fit ok, thankfully he and Steve were pretty much the same height, Steve was just broader and more muscular than Bucky, not that Bucky wasn’t muscular himself, he was just leaner than Steve. He felt a little strange pulling on a pair of Steve’s boxer briefs, but he decided that if they were soulmates, and boy could he not wait to be Steve’s lover too, then the awkward feeling would be a thing of the past pretty soon. I mean he’d wanted to get into Steve’s pants for a while now, he just hadn’t anticipated that this was how it would happen the first time. Steve was amused at his awkward feeling. Wait a second! How did he know Steve was amused? That was weird! Not unwelcome, but odd! Was this normal? Bucky would have to ask someone. But Steve’s amusement made him laugh out loud regardless.

It suddenly occurred to Bucky that he hadn’t spoken to his family since the phone call from Pepper the previous day at his apartment. Oh boy, his mom was gonna be pissed! He took out his phone and set up a group video call to his mom, dad and Becca. This news was something they all needed to hear at the same time! His mom and dad answered first, followed not 30 seconds later by Becca, and he gave them all a tired but happy smile. “Hey guys” he greeted them all. “JAMES BUCHANAN BARNES! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE PLAYING AT LEAVING US WAITING ALL NIGHT FOR NEWS YOUNG MAN” his mom shouted, making them all cringe. Bucky flushed red “mom I’m so sorry! So much happened and I just lost track of everything” he apologised, his mom looking somewhat mollified at least. “Well, what happened? How is Steve darling? Are you going to keep us waiting even longer?” she asked exasperatedly.

Bucky explained what Bruce and Helen had told him of Steve’s injuries, and they all looked extremely worried until Bucky told them that Steve would be fully healed in about another 3 days, to which 3 stunned faces dropped their jaws simultaneously. Bucky almost laughed, but didn’t because he’d done the same thing when he was told. He wasn’t gonna tell them that though. And then came time for the confession, a huge soft smile appearing on his face. “He’s my soulmate guys. We’re bonded” he told them and pulled up the left sleeve of his t-shirt to show them his bond-mark, the purple star having darkened slightly in colour on both his and Steve’s skin as the connection had continued to deepen through the night. At that sight all 3 of his family started to talk over each other, congratulating him, making happy sounds, clapping and generally making him feel loved and grateful as hell to have such an awesome family, and if his eyes got a little watery with happy tears then what the hell, he was cool with it.

His mom and dad hugged each other, then Becca suddenly let out a little laugh and said “Buckeroo, really? Your soul bond-mark is a star! Do you realise the irony of that! You’re bonded to Captain America and your bond-mark is a god damn star” and she began to laugh in earnest then. Bucky blushed dark red again, god damn that stupid reaction, but began to laugh as well, he hadn’t realised the irony of the mark actually, but trust Becca to make him see it. His parents joined in, and soon they were all laughing hard together, releasing the last of the tension the last 24 hours had created. Eventually calming down, his mom brushed laughter tears out of her eyes and asked “so when are you bringing your Steve to meet us?” Bucky smiled at that, ‘he really is my Steve’ he thought to himself proudly. “I promise as soon as he’s healed enough we’ll come over. Steve can’t wait to meet you all. We talked all through the night until I made him go to sleep, I told him all about you guys” he said, unable to keep the obvious love for the man out of his voice. His family all smiled back at him, just happy beyond words to see Bucky this happy himself. His whole family had believed that Bucky would be one of those people that always avoided physical contact and deeper personal connections. It honestly made them all so happy and proud to see him so obviously in love. “We can’t wait to meet him son, you just tell him we all wish him well” his dad told him. “I will dad. I’d better go get back to him guys. I promise I’ll keep you all updated better. Love you guys” Bucky said and waved at the camera, a chorus of love you’s, bye’s and waves coming at him before he ended the video call.

Leaving Steve’s room to head back to the medical floor, Bucky could sense Steve’s relief and happiness that Bucky was returning to him, and he was struck again with the thought that it didn’t seem normal. He’d never heard his parents mention being able to sense each other when separated, and he resolved to ask Bruce about it seeing as the guy was a genius!

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Steve knew Bucky was on his way back down to his medical room, though he still wasn’t sure how he knew it? He couldn’t help feeling relieved though. He was already so deeply in love with his gorgeous soulmate and felt like the luckiest guy in the world that this perfect man was his! Steve had never been one to hold back, and he was so relieved to find that Bucky was just as ready and willing to throw himself into this so very much wanted new part of life together.

Bucky walked through the door then, and Steve forgot to breathe for a second, good job he could go without breathing longer than most normal humans, at his soulmate, looking so relaxed and full of joy. “I talked to my family. They can’t wait to meet you. They were really happy for us and sent well wishes” Bucky said crossing over to Steve’s bed and slipping his hand into Steve’s hand that wasn’t in a splint (casts were useless really, he healed too quickly) and placing a soft kiss on Steve’s forehead. “That’s real sweet of them Buck. I can’t wait to meet them too” Steve replied happily, but also thinking that the small kiss wasn’t anywhere near good enough, and he knew that Bucky knew it, the brunette’s eyebrows raised and he smirked, leaning his head back in and pressing his lips to Steve’s. This time Steve was the one to run the tip of his tongue against Bucky’s luscious lower lip, Bucky’s breath hitching, they both parted their lips together and Steve put his tongue to good use exploring Bucky’s mouth again. The gorgeous brunette letting out soft little moans of pleasure. Steve moved his hand from out of Bucky’s to the nape of the man’s neck, pulling him slightly closer to him without putting pressure on his still sore ribs and clavicle. The kiss started heating up, and as they separated briefly to reposition their faces and between little passion filled kisses Bucky managed to get out a “I should leave more often if this is the welcome back I get” in a breathy voice. To which Steve just about managed to reply “no, no leaving” making Bucky huff a laugh through the kissing.

Steve’s hand travelled down Bucky’s neck, past his shoulder and down his arm, moving to the man’s glorious thigh and squeezing slightly, Bucky’s hands moving one to Steve’s neck and the other to the small of his back and stroking in little circles making Steve tremble slightly and let out a soft moan of his own into the kiss. A cough and the sound of a loud knock on the door happened simultaneously making the two men flinch apart slightly, both blushing a dark red too and turning their head’s at the same time to see Bruce at the door with an embarrassed smirk on his face.

“Glad to see you’re feeling better Steve” Bruce said, his voice quavering a little as he obviously tried to hold back a laugh. Bucky looked embarrassed to have been caught in the act, but Steve just laughed out loud and waved his fellow Avenger over. “Can I get you to lay back and be still while F.R.I.D.A.Y performs another bio-scan” Bruce asked, “I want to see how your injuries are progressing with healing this morning” he continued. “Of course” Steve replied, and Bucky got up from the bed and sat in the chair next to it, the red colour finally leaving his face. “Morning Bruce” Bucky greeted him. “James, how are you today?” Bruce asked as the tell-tale blue glow of the bio-scanner moved up the length of Steve’s body. “I’m good thanks. Better now I’ve showered, feel way more human” Bucky joked. “You’d be the only full one in the room” Bruce joked with a wink at the younger man. Steve huffed a slight laugh and the scanner stopped as it reached his toes. “Scan complete, would you like a 3D holo-image Doctor Banner?” F.R.I.D.A.Y asked. “Yes please” Bruce replied, a perfect holographic representation of Steve’s body appeared floating at waist height in the room. Bruce started manipulating the image focusing in on the various breaks Steve had, checking to see how they were healing. “It’s all looking good from what I can see here, you should definitely be on track to be fully healed in about 2 days, maybe slightly sooner if you continue on bed rest” Bruce stated with another smirk at the 2 men.

Steve gave him a weak glare that only made Bruce smile wider then remembered he had wanted to talk to Bruce about his and Bucky’s bond. “Bruce, how knowledgeable are you about soul-bonds?” Steve asked. Bruce rubbed at his chin absently with one of his hands and replied “I know a fair bit, but F.R.I.D.A.Y can probably fill in any blanks I have”. Steve nodded and looked at Bucky who tilted his head as if to encourage Steve to ask what they obviously both were thinking. “When Bucky and I aren’t in the same room as each other I can still sense his emotions and I know where he is as well. Is that normal?” Steve questioned. Bruce’s eyebrows made their way up his forehead and he looked to Bucky who nodded and confirmed “yeah, same with me for Steve” and shrugged. “Well I know that that kind of connection is possible, but it’s extremely rare” Bruce stated “F.R.I.D.A.Y, do you have any figures for us?” Bruce asked the AI. “Studies into soul bonds have revealed that the stronger a bond is the more a bonded pair can sense of each other’s emotions, this can happen in around 13% of cases, but the ability to sense each other’s location is incredibly rare, roughly 3% of all reported soul-bond cases globally, only the strongest and most compatible bonded pairs will experience this phenomenon” F.R.I.D.A.Y informed them all. Steve and Bucky both looked a bit stunned at that, even Bruce looked uncharacteristically surprised by the information. “Well, I guess there’s no denying you 2 were meant to be! It’s insane that out of the roughly 7.7 billion people on the planet you managed to find each other so near and completely by chance” Bruce stated with an impressed air. Steve nodded in agreement and reached his hand out to Bucky instinctively, the other man taking it without hesitation. Smiling at the pair, Bruce excused himself and Steve turned his body towards Bucky smiling at the man. “I love you Buck” he stated. Bucky smiled wide replying “I love you too Steve”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be warned, the next chapter will contain SMUT!
> 
> ;-)


	10. The First Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes people, we are finally here! The SMUT has arrived!
> 
> As always, enjoy, you kinky lot ;-)
> 
> xXx

Bucky was really, really trying hard to keep his hands off of Steve. But I mean, come on! The guy is gorgeous, built like a god, stunning features that were there even before the serum had sculpted Steve’s body to match the heart and soul he already had. And he loved Bucky, he was Bucky’s in every way possible. Every time they kissed it started to get heated pretty quickly, and Bucky had to really try to restrain himself, and trust him, he was starting to realise it was pretty damn difficult to restrain a super soldier. He had to physically push Steve back at times (and he knew he wasn’t actually pushing him, Steve was humouring him) and remind him they weren’t going to do anything until Bruce and Helen gave him a clean bill of health!

That didn’t stop him wanting! This rare connection they had allowing them both to feel the others arousal, which just made them both want more. Bucky had realised that their bond, although wonderful and miraculous, could also present certain problems at times. The first being distraction! As in, when they weren’t together they could easily be distracted from whatever they were doing or whoever they were talking to at the time by the others feelings coming through the bond, that could be a potential problem if they became distracted at inopportune times. The second being privacy! Even though there was nothing Bucky would ever want to hide from Steve, everyone had moments where they wanted to keep their thoughts to themselves, and although it hadn’t been an issue yet, it would no doubt crop up from time to time in a lifelong bonding. They had talked about both issues together and the only thing they could come up with was that they would just have to cope as best they could when these issues presented themselves. They had a lifetime together to get used to the connection. It was very early days into their bond and relationship, and they were still learning each other, let alone the extent of their bond.

It was on the 3rd day of Steve’s enforced bedrest that Bucky met the other Avengers. He hadn’t left the medical room except to use the facilities in Steve’s rooms and change, the wonderful Pepper Stark having sent Happy out to retrieve a bag of clothes and other personal effects from Bucky’s mom. He ate his meals in the medical room with Steve, still amused by the sheer amount of food his love could consume, and he slept each night next to Steve on his hospital bed, cuddled into his side trying not to agitate Steve’s healing body but reluctant to part from him. So on the 3rd day when Bruce had announced that the other Avengers were desperate to check in on Steve themselves, having given Steve privacy in the early establishment of his soul-bond, and Steve insisted he was feeling fine, Bruce allowed them in.

Bucky sat in the chair on Steve’s left holding his non-splinted hand and feeling a little nervous at meeting this group of heroes. Steve squeezed his hand, sensing Bucky’s nerves and trying to reassure him. The doors opened and in walked a crowd of individuals led by none other than Tony Stark himself. Tony stopped at the end of Steve’s bed eyeing the two men’s joined hands, Bucky’s nerves rising slightly at the look, but feeling Steve’s love and sense of calm coming through the bond, so he made himself relax.

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“Hey guys” Steve greeted them all. “Capsicle, how’s things?” Tony replied. Steve huffed a laugh and squeezed Bucky’s hand again to comfort his soulmate who he knew was feeling a little awed and nervous. “Well apart from being stuck in the same room for 3 days, I’m good, great actually” Steve said looking at Bucky his eyes full of love. “So it’s true then, you found your soulmate” Tony stated, it wasn’t framed as a question, but Steve nodded anyway. “Guys I want you all to meet James Buchanan Barnes, my soulmate” he said with pride, “Buck, these are my friends, my family really” he told Bucky, and proceeded to introduce each Avenger to him. “It’s great to meet you all, call me Bucky” Bucky offered to them all. Harley was the first to step forward and speak after that. “Hey man, good to meet you. I kinda helped Steve with the date planning” he smirked. Bucky relaxed a little and smiled lovingly at Steve, “well thanks go to you as well then, it was perfect” Bucky told Harley. Steve frowned and said “until we got interrupted” and regretted it instantly as he felt the wave of sadness and pain that flowed through the bond and immediately turned back to Bucky saying “hey love, it’s ok, I’m fine, I’m here, everything is ok, alright? I love you” not even caring about the crowd of people watching the intimate moment. Bucky looked into Steve’s eyes and felt the reassurance and love Steve poured into the bond and smiled softly at him.

Turning back to Tony, Steve asked “so what happened after the battle? Everyone else ok?” Rhodey spoke then “well I managed to fracture my arm and got knocked out when I hit the ground, so that was fun” he grumbled. Tony laughed and continued “yeah, but apart from the two of you no other major injuries. Thor managed to chop the bastards head off, so that put an end to whatever he was up to”, everyone looked relieved at that. Thor spoke up next, “I have consulted with some of my warriors back on Asgard. The entity was called Thanos. His goal was to collect all the Infinity Stones, like the one in Vision’s head, and wipe out half of all life in the universe. It is most fortuitous that we were able to put a stop to his mad scheme” Thor informed them. Tony spoke up after that and said “yes, fortuitous! So, when Capsicle is up and about, revels!” he smirked. Steve and Bucky laughed and Tony looked pleased with himself. “Bucky Boy, you’ll join us of course” Tony stated looking to Bucky. Bucky looked surprised, “uuhh, I mean, if you’re sure?” he questioned. “Of course, you’re part of the big happy Avenger family now Bucky Boy” Tony replied. Bucky looked stunned but had a lopsided smile on his face, and Steve was struck again by just how gorgeous Bucky looked, even in his soft sweatpants and t-shirt. The other Avengers all stayed for a little while, and Steve was pleased to see and feel Bucky’s nerves settle. They all spoke to Bucky, talking general mundane stuff and helping Bucky to realise that they were normal people just as much as they were superheroes, and Bucky relaxed into the mild teasing, jokes and surprising normalcy of the far-from-normal group of individuals. Steve was thrilled to see these 2 most important aspects of his life blending together with such ease.

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That afternoon Bucky received a video call on his phone from Riley. Moving to the window and sitting himself down on the sill, Bucky clicked answer and Riley’s concerned face appeared on the screen. “Hey Bro. Just heard from the Captain about you taking leave. You okay?” Riley asked. “Hey Ri. Yeah I’m fine. Uhh, remember the conversation we had about me seeing someone?” Bucky asks him tentatively. Riley’s eyes widen a bit, but he also has the air of someone who just had a theory confirmed. Bucky knows Riley was the only person other than his family who knew he was seeing someone and the identity of the person he had met, so it can’t have been much of a stretch to assume that Bucky’s disappearance from the fire station had to do with what the whole world had seen happen on the news with Steve. Riley seems uncertain though so replies with “yeah?” clearly wondering if everything is ok. “You wanna meet him?” Bucky asks, looking to Steve to make sure he is ok with coming face-to-face with his friend. Steve smiles and nods so Bucky knows he is, Looking back at his phone screen, Riley looks a bit shocked but also a little excited and answers “yeah, of course Bro”. Bucky rises, walking over to sit back on the side of Steve’s bed and turns the camera so that both he and Steve are visible on the screen, saying “Riley Martinez, I’d like you to meet my soulmate, Steve Rogers” grinning at Riley, then looking at Steve with adoration in his eyes. He knows Steve can feel his pride and love, and Steve smiles at the screen and says “hi Riley, it’s good to meet you. Buck’s told me a lot about you and his other crewmates”. Riley looks a bit star struck, but replies with “he has? I mean, that’s cool. It’s great to meet you too Captain” and Steve shakes his head replying “please just call me Steve, any friend of Bucky’s is a friend of mine”, and Riley blushes slightly, Bucky is really amused at his crewmate. “So, soulmates huh! You were right then bro” Riley states to Bucky. “Yeah, I was” Bucky confirms and he and Steve spend a little while catching Riley up on the basics of what has happened the last few days. The 3 men chatting for a while, then Riley says “you guys should come over for dinner next time we’re all off. Sam would love to meet you too Steve. I’ve kept quiet on everything happening with Bucky though so don’t tell Sam I knew, he’ll never let me forget it” he finishes laughing. Bucky and Steve promise to visit soon and Riley ends the call with “I’m glad you’re okay Steve, and I’m glad everything worked out great for you both” ending the call. Bucky looks at Steve and says “yeah it did” leaning over to kiss his man again.

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Steve is thrilled the next morning when Bruce comes in, performs another bio-scan and declares him fully healed and releases him to return to his rooms with Bucky. The two make their way up, after a last breakfast in the medical wing, and enter Steve’s rooms. Bucky moves to take his bag off of Steve’s bed where he’d left it, and puts it on the floor next to Steve’s desk. The room seems charged with energy then, Bucky looks over and Steve can feel his sudden nervousness through the bond. He walks slowly over to Bucky, places his hands on the brunette’s arms and quietly asks “join me for a shower?” Bucky’s head snaps up his eyes locked on Steve’s and blushes but Steve can feel his arousal through their bond again. He keeps looking Bucky directly in his eyes and calmly says “we don’t have to do anything in there, but I want you in my arms, and I really need a shower!” Bucky laughs at that, which eases some of the tension, and replies with “yeah Steve, I’ll join you”.

Steve takes his hand and leads him into the bathroom, letting it go while he turns the shower on to the setting he prefers, then turning back around to face Bucky, he steps slowly over to him, takes Bucky’s chin in his hand and moves their faces together to press a kiss to his lips. Bucky returns it and grabs Steve’s hips. Steve doesn’t want to make Bucky feel like he has to do anything he might not want to so rather than rip the brunette’s clothes off like he’d like to he moves both his hands to his own t-shirt and, breaking the kiss off for a moment, pulls it up and over his head, discarding it on the floor. Bucky’s eyes clearly skim over Steve’s bare chest and his cheeks flush a light pink as his eyes snap back to Steve’s, reaching down he grabs hold of his own t-shirt and removes it as well. Steve takes the opportunity to look Bucky over, his body is beautiful, leaner muscle than what Steve has, but it suits him better, he has a lithe but fit frame built perfectly in proportion and refined from years of heavy work and carrying around fire gear. Steve thinks he is stunning, and tries to send his longing, admiration and arousal through their bond. Judging by the look on Bucky’s face he is receiving it loud and clear, returning Steve’s feelings with desire of his own, and Steve can’t wait any longer!

Grabbing Bucky’s hips and pulling him flush with his own body he claims Bucky’s mouth, kissing the man with everything he has, their tongues dance together as though they’ve been kissing like this for years not days. Bucky groans into Steve’s mouth and Steve moves one hand to the nape of Bucky’s neck, the other rubs a line down the centre of his back moving down to cup Bucky’s ass and squeezing gently. Bucky’s breath hitches and his own hands move from Steve’s sides to the hem of his sweatpants his fingers lightly running under the hem as if asking permission. Steve breaks the kiss and pushes both his sweats and his boxer briefs down and, bending slightly, pulls them off completely. Standing back up straight Steve moves back a bit and Bucky looks him over from his feet all the way up to Steve’s eyes.

Steve has a moment of uncertainty before a rush of love and heat bursts through the bond, and then he forgets to breathe as Bucky removes his own trousers and boxer briefs. And then there they both are, stood there completely naked, taking in the site of each other’s exposed bodies for the first time, both unable to keep their eyes from roaming each other, and both broadcasting love and desire and arousal through the bond. Steve steps forward and takes Bucky’s hand, pulling the man under the rain of warm water with him and wrapping his arms around him. He kisses him again deeply but more sweetly than before, his hands roaming over Bucky’s upper body as the brunette does the same to him. They are pressed together now, and Steve can feel every inch of Bucky’s skin against his, and can feel his hardening cock against his groin, knowing Bucky can feel his own cock pressing in against him.

He doesn’t want to rush things though so he breaks the kiss again and reaches for his shower gel, popping the cap and squirting some into his palm, replacing the bottle he looks Bucky in the face and asks “can I?” Bucky nods in response and Steve rubs his hands together to work the gel into a lather then begins to rub it into Bucky’s skin, Bucky turns so Steve can rub his back and grabs the bottle himself, lathering up his own hands and turning back to Steve so he can wash him at the same time. So the two men just spend some time washing each other, worshipping each other’s bodies, massaging at the occasional knot in the others muscles as they find them.

Then Steve reaches between Bucky’s legs with his lathered hands and takes hold of the brunette’s cock. Bucky moans loud, and Steve’s own cock twitches in interest at the sound. Steve doesn’t overdo it, he works the lather over Bucky’s cock and groin, cupping the other man’s balls lightly as he washes him, releasing his hold he allows Bucky to rinse himself off under the water. Then Bucky reaches for Steve, taking his cock in hands to, to return the favour to the blonde. Steve’s head falls back at the pleasurable feeling of Bucky’s hands on him, gently rubbing and washing over him. Steve lets out a soft groan himself. As the water washes the lather off of him, Bucky looks Steve in the eye and says “let me try something” and Steve’s head tilts to the side slightly in question until Bucky slowly begins to sink to his knees.

Steve’s face flushes red but he has to stifle what would have been an embarrassingly loud groan at the site of Bucky on his knees in front of him. The brunette licks his lips then, slowly, his hand moves up taking hold of Steve’s cock again and he moves his head forward, opening his mouth, his tongue flicks out and licks lightly at the head of Steve’s cock. Steve’s hands clench into fists and his head drops back again, until he feels Bucky’s mouth around his cock, the wet heat feeling amazing, he raises his head, eyes looking down, and the vision of Bucky’s perfect pouty lips wrapped around his cock is one Steve is thankful once again to his eidetic memory for as he knows it’s a sight he’d never want to forget. Bucky starts to suck lightly then bobbing his head slowly up and down as well as the hand he still has wrapped around his cock. The sensation is like nothing Steve could ever describe. It’s not like jerking off by himself. Bucky’s hand is smoother and not as warm as his own, but his mouth is hot and moist and the sucking sensation feels incredible. Steve loses himself to the sensations for a while, until Bucky removes his hand and takes more of Steve’s considerable length into his mouth, hollowing out his cheeks as he does. He can’t quite get all of Steve into his mouth, Steve is simply too big, but he sucks away enthusiastically at what he can, and Steve can feel a coil of white hot pleasure building in his groin, he’s panting now, and moves his hand to Bucky’s beautiful brunette hair, gripping lightly but tugging gently which makes Bucky moan, and isn’t that a sensation! The vibration of the moan around Steve’s cock pushes him closer to his climax, and he pants out “Buck, Buck I’m gonna cum, oh god love, I’m gonna cum” and Bucky hums again not removing his mouth at all and moving his hand to tug gently at Steve’s balls as they rise up, and that’s it! Steve cums hard into Bucky’s mouth, a loud moan of pleasure spilling from his lips as his vision whites out for a few seconds. The sensations overwhelming him in the best possible way.

Bucky removes his mouth after having swallowed all of Steve’s cum down and raises off his knees wrapping his arms around Steve’s waist as the blonde’s eyes open again. He has a pleased happy smirk on his face and Steve marvels again at how this perfect man can possibly be his. Regaining the ability to speak finally, Steve says “Buck, that was incredible, but you didn’t have to….. you know” blushing. Bucky just looks smug and replies “I didn’t know if I’d be any good at that, but I wanted to try, and I wanted to taste you” and Steve is glad he doesn’t have any heart problems since the serum as that little sentence might have been enough to give him a heart attack. “I’ve been dreaming about doing that to you since you came to find me that day” Bucky continues. And Steve blushes some more but says “well you were amazing! Come on, let’s get dried off, then I’m gonna make you feel so good Buck” and delights in Bucky’s blush and his pupils blowing wide.

5 minutes later they are dried off and Steve pushes Bucky down on to the bed climbing over the man he physically lifts him up the bed with no effort, Bucky huffs and says “jeeze Steve I forget how strong you are” but he looks rather thrilled at Steve’s ability to manhandle him, and Steve feels pretty proud of himself right then. Steve takes Bucky’s still hard cock in his hand gently and gives it a few strokes, Bucky’s head falling back against the pillows in pleasure and a soft moan escaping his lips. Steve strokes Bucky’s cock gently for a minute before speaking, “Buck, you still with me?” he asks. “Just about” Bucky replies breathily looking back at Steve. “I want you Buck, want you so bad. I wanna be in you! Can I?” Steve asks, arousal and want clear in his tone. Bucky gulps but gives Steve a look of sheer longing and desire, replying “I really want you too, but I’ve never done anything before, so I’m a little nervous” he confesses. Steve smiles at Bucky and says “I haven’t been with anyone either Buck, but uuhh, I did a lot of research, and if you’re willing to trust me, I know I can make you feel good” he tells him. Bucky’s face softens and he replies “I trust you Steve, yes”.

Steve shuffles down a little and reaches over to one of the bedside drawers, opening it and producing a bottle of lube. He turns back to Bucky and snaps the cap open pouring some onto the fingers of his right hand. Tossing the bottle to the side he rubs the lube between his fingers to warm it and reaches his hand down to Bucky’s groin. He looks back up at Bucky and smiles saying “relax love, open your legs for me, I’ll be gentle and we’ll go slowly, if anything hurts or even feels uncomfortable just tell me, we’ll stop, ok?” and Bucky looks back at him love and trust in his eyes, takes a deep breath and parts his legs. Steve reaches down and rubs his fingers gently over Bucky’s hole, not pressing in, just spreading some of the lube around, Bucky remains loose limbed, but Steve looks at his face seeing it has gone bright red and his eyes are closed he says “hey love, look at me”, Bucky opens his eyes focusing on Steve who says “don’t be embarrassed ok, it’s just you and me, and I love you, every part of you, nothing to be embarrassed about ok, you’re gorgeous”. Bucky looks more relaxed at that and replies “I love you too, I’m good” so Steve nods and returns his attention to Bucky’s hole.

With one finger he gently rubs in circles around and over it until he can feel Bucky completely relax into the touch, he understands it must be an unusual sensation to experience for the first time. Now Bucky is relaxed, he gently puts a bit more pressure and presses slightly, twisting his finger round as he does. He hears a sigh from Bucky, who’s body still seems relaxed, but asks anyway “doing okay?” Bucky simply says “yeah” sounding relaxed too, so Steve continues with the push and twist motion, pressing in more until Bucky’s hole opens enough for him to press his finger in to the first knuckle where he stops. Bucky lets a little huffed laugh out and says “I’m good Steve. It’s a weird sensation, but it doesn’t hurt, feels good actually” and Steve smiles and replies “ok love, I’m gonna keep going” and begins to move his finger again pressing it in gently and pulling it out slowly while continuing to twist it until he can feel that Bucky’s hole has softened around it. “Ready for another?” he asks, and Bucky says “yeah, I’m good” slightly breathily, which Steve takes as a good sign, so removing the first finger he gathers up a bit more lube from around Bucky’s rim and gently presses two fingers in this time with almost no resistance. He pauses again for a moment allowing Bucky to adjust, and then starts to move both in and out of him. Bucky remains relaxed and after a minute or two Steve can feel him ever so slightly rolling his hips. He smiles “you’re doing great love, so proud of you, you’re so beautiful, so good” he says, and Bucky responds with a soft moan. Steve pumps his fingers in and out, then remembers from his research about finding the prostate, so he begins to stroke inside of Bucky gently probing for the nub of nerves his research told him to feel for, and when he hears a gasp from Bucky as he rubs over a bump inside him he knows he’s found it. “Oh my god, what the hell” Bucky groans loudly, followed by “Steve, do that again” and he is quick to comply. “OHH” Bucky moans as Steve strokes a little harder. Steve can feel Bucky is really loose now so he slips in a third finger which Bucky doesn’t even seem to notice, and strokes over his prostate again. “Ahh, Steve, oh my god, so good, oh” Bucky moans rolling his hips harder now.

Steve removes his fingers then and Bucky’s face snaps up with a questioning look, it’s so adorable Steve could laugh, but he doesn’t! Instead he says “you’re ready for me love, you still want to do this?” and Bucky’s pupils blow even wider, the tiniest ring of grey still visible. “Yes, god yes, get in me” he begs and Steve smiles grabbing the lube and looking back at him “I have condoms, if you want me to wear one?” he asks. Bucky shakes his head “no, neither of us has been with anyone else, I want to feel you, want you to cum inside me” he answers, and god is that a turn on to Steve who practically growls as he lubes himself up. Moving over Bucky and using his legs to push Bucky’s legs up to give him more room, he grabs his cock with one hand and guides it to Bucky’s hole. Bucky looks at him with lust and trust, and it’s a heady combination. He presses forward his cock slipping gently in. Bucky takes a sharp breath in and Steve instantly freezes. “You okay?” he asks. Bucky nods and replies “yeah, you’re just bigger than a few fingers! Give me a minute?” he smirks a little, and Steve huffs a laugh “of course love” he replies, and he waits until Bucky nods for him to continue, he can feel his hole has loosened up again so gently pushes forward until he is fully seated balls deep in the brunette, both of them panting breaths now. “Still okay?” he checks again. Bucky smiles at him “I’m fantastic Steve, you can move” he winks, making Steve laugh, but he does as ordered and begins to slowly pull out almost to the tip before pressing back in again. Bucky’s eyes close and his mouth opens slightly in pleasure, and Steve feels amazing. It’s not just the sensation of being inside Bucky, although that in itself is the most amazing feeling he’s ever experienced. It’s also the look of pleasure on Bucky’s face and the sounds he is making, it’s also the trust he is placing in Steve, it’s overwhelming and amazing in all the best ways.

Steve leans back a bit now, wrapping his hands under Bucky’s thighs and tilting him up a bit, trying to find that magic angle again pumping in and out of the brunette faster now, revelling in the feeling of Bucky around him. Then Bucky lets loose a loud “OOOHHH” and Steve knows he’s found his prostate again and makes it his mission to hit that spot on every thrust. After a few minutes of this, Steve’s thrust become slightly more frantic as he can feel that coil of heat in his groin that tells him his release is building again, Bucky is alternately panting and letting out moans of pleasure and Steve can feel Bucky’s hole clenching around him as Bucky’s breath hitches again and he shouts “STEVE” and cums all over his own stomach and chest, his hole tightening even more around Steve’s cock, and the combination of the feeling and seeing Bucky come undone sends Steve over the edge, and he cums deep inside Bucky, his cock rubbing one last time over Bucky’s prostate as he does making Bucky moan loudly.

Steve lowers himself so he’s resting over Bucky, his arms on the bed either side of the brunette’s head, both of them panting still. Bucky’s eyes flutter open and he looks tiredly into Steve’s eyes. “Wow” is all he manages to say. Steve smiles and presses a kiss to his lips, then to his cheeks, and says “yeah?” Bucky looks at him wide eyed and says “seriously, wow”, seemingly unable to actually say much more than that. Steve laughs and gently pulls out of Bucky, who actually whines slightly at the loss but grabs for Steve, who willingly envelopes the brunette in a hug, he manages to pull the bed cover over the two of them and Bucky snuggles into Steve’s chest and sleepily says “love you Stevie” with his eyes closed. Steve’s eyebrows raise and he says “Stevie?” Bucky snorts a laugh, still with his eyes closed and replies “yeah! Stevie!” Making Steve smile. He closes his eyes too and sighs contentedly, saying “I like it. Love you too Buck”. Both men drifting off to sleep in each other’s arms.


	11. The New Intimacy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy all. Sorry for the delay on this new chapter, I've been away for a while.
> 
> Hope you're all ready for some more smut!
> 
> Back to some fluff next chapter, but for now enjoy more kinky stuff!
> 
> xXx

Bucky stands in the shower, letting the hot relaxing water wash over him, easing the few aches in his muscles from being manhandled by a super soldier, letting them wash away. Don’t get him wrong, he’s not complaining, but Steve really did prove his superness! Is that even a word? Fuck it, Bucky’s too blissed out and pleasantly sore to care! After their first time together, which was amazing (he’s pretty sure first times are usually meant to suck, aren’t they?) the two men had slept for a couple of hours wrapped around each other, then Steve had decided to wake Bucky by giving him an amazing blowjob, which Bucky certainly wasn’t complaining about, swallowing all Bucky’s cum just like Bucky had done for him earlier, and Bucky had jerked Steve off in return. It appeared that they still couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Bucky then realised he could feel Steve’s cum beginning to leak out of his ass, and as much as he loved feeling Steve cum inside him, cos fuck had that been a hot sensation, this part of it was less pleasant. So Steve had ordered him to shower while he went and got them both some lunch.

Bucky had so many thoughts running through his head. He wasn’t a virgin anymore for a start, he’d never cared about that, was always cool with it, and perfectly happy to jerk himself off when the need arose, but the things Steve had done to him, the way he made him feel, were so intense and overwhelming in all the best ways. But it wasn’t just the physical sensations, which were mind-blowing, it was the feelings and emotions pouring through their bond as well. He felt Steve’s pleasure, his arousal, his love, his amazement, and when Steve came his feelings of utter bliss and euphoria. Bucky knew Steve could feel those things in him too, and it just made the whole experience so much more intimate and phenomenal. Bucky didn’t think he’d ever get tired of that. It was definitely an added bonus of their extraordinary and rare bond.

He also was only just beginning to take in his very surreal situation. Here he was in Avengers Tower, in Captain America’s bedroom, taking a shower after a morning of utterly amazing sex with Captain America himself, who was his soulmate in a bond that was rare enough to only be recorded in around 3% of the entire population of the whole goddamn world! He couldn’t help but think ‘you couldn’t make this shit up Barnes’. As surreal as it was, all he cared about was the fact that this wonderful man, Steve, his Steve, cos he could say that as much as he wanted to now, loved and adored Bucky just as much as Bucky loved and adored him.

There was so much he and Steve needed to talk about, he honestly didn’t know where to start, he was overwhelmed by everything that had happened since rescuing Steve from the fire that day. Never in a million years would Bucky have guessed he’d be where he was now, but he wouldn’t change any of it. He was pretty sure he was the luckiest guy in the world. He felt a rush of love and affection from Steve then and smiled softly, sending the same feelings back through the bond.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Steve and Bucky had just returned from eating dinner with the other Avengers in the communal space, something they had insisted on, having barely seen Steve for 4 days, and the second Steve’s bedroom door had closed Bucky had practically pounced on Steve, drawing the blonde in for a searing kiss and broadcasting his desire through the bond. He had pushed Steve up against the wall, Steve going willingly, and started to kiss along Steve’s jaw and down his neck, his hands roaming Steve’s muscular chest, then kissing back up to his mouth where he bit gently down on Steve’s lower lip and kissed him again. Steve groaned and lowered his hands to Bucky’s ass and grabbed a cheek in each hand, kneading softly as Bucky moaned and moved his mouth to kiss at Steve’s jawline again. Steve moved a hand around to stroke across Bucky’s cock which was straining against his jeans, and Bucky let out a louder groan as Steve rubbed his palm up and down the hard length.

Steve hadn’t been able to help himself earlier that day when he’d awoken from their nap and felt Bucky’s still naked gorgeous body against his, he’d had to get his mouth on him, he’d wanted to taste Bucky’s cum like the brunette had tasted his in the shower, he’d loved the feeling of taking Bucky apart with his mouth and was thankful once again that he could hold his breath longer than a normal human.

Bucky was kissing and sucking around Steve’s jawline and his hands had moved from his chest down and around to Steve’s ass where they were groping appreciatively. Steve had his eyes closed and his head back against the wall, breath coming slightly faster and still palming at Bucky’s cock. Then Bucky pulled back a tiny bit and said “Stevie, can I make love to you baby? Wanna make you feel as good as you made me feel”. Steve’s cock twitched and his pupils blew wider and he nodded eagerly saying “yeah Buck, god, yes love” and Bucky gave that cheeky lopsided smile of his and grabbed Steve’s hand pulling him over to the bed and pushing him down onto it. Bucky started on getting Steve out of his clothes, undoing the zipper of Steve’s chinos and pulling them down and off, followed by his boxer briefs as Steve removed his own t-shirt, then laid bare in front of him Bucky looked Steve over and said “fuck Stevie, you’re so gorgeous! But you wanna know something?” “What Buck” Steve replied. “I’ve seen the pictures baby, you were gorgeous before the serum too! You know I’d have loved you just the same back then as I do now, right Stevie?” Steve felt floored by that, he could feel Bucky’s honesty and love through the bond and it brought tears to his eyes and he had to clear his throat before he could say “I know. I love you too, so much love” thinking to himself that all he’d wanted his whole life was to find exactly what he had now, someone who loved him, regardless of the serum, and he knew it was true thanks to their unique bond. Steve pulled Bucky down on top of him and kissed him with all the love and longing and passion he could, until Bucky pulled back and started to tug his t-shirt off, Steve undid Bucky’s fly and pushed the jeans and his boxer briefs down as far as he could reach, Bucky kicked them off the rest of the way.

Bucky reached for the bottle of lube they had left on the bedside table and looked back at Steve, a little bit of nervousness creeping into his demeanour, but he looked determined too and said “I’ve done a bit of reading myself, and I know how it felt when you did it, but you may need to guide me a bit, okay?” Steve gave him a reassuring smile and replied “of course love, but don’t worry, you won’t hurt me” and he immediately opens his legs for Bucky, who’s pupils blow wider as he hungrily takes in the site of Steve spread open for him, it’s a huge turn on for Steve seeing Bucky look at him like that, knowing it’s him making Bucky feel that way.

Bucky lubes up his fingers and starts opening Steve up. That first press of Bucky’s finger against his hole is indeed an unusual sensation, but it isn’t unpleasant. Bucky seems to be doing the same press and twist technique Steve had researched, and it really does feel pretty good. He feels when Bucky’s finger slips inside him, it surprises him how quickly he has loosened up, but he guesses it’s because he honestly feels completely relaxed with Bucky, regardless of the fact that he essentially has another man’s fingers up his ass, he trusts Bucky completely and knows Bucky wouldn’t hurt him, couldn’t hurt him really. Bucky checks in with him and Steve is feeling amazing, sighing with pleasure he tells Bucky “it feels so good love, I’m ready for more”.

Bucky adds a second finger, and a third soon after and Steve feels amazing, he can’t help but roll his hips slightly, thrusting gently against Bucky’s fingers and panting slightly. He looks down at Bucky who looks adorable, Steve can see the tip of his tongue peeking out of the side of his mouth in concentration. Steve tries to send how amazing Bucky is making him feel through the bond and his love for him too, and he’s pretty sure Bucky gets it as he looks up at Steve with that lopsided smile again, and honestly, that particular smile does things to Steve! At that moment something like a spark of the most intense white hot pleasure shoots through Steve “shit!” he shouts. “Oh Stevie, I think I just found your prostate” Bucky states smugly, rubbing over it again and making Steve groan loud. “Buck, I need you inside me love” Steve begs panting louder. “Okay baby, you’re ready, how do you want me?” Bucky asks him, pulling his fingers out of Steve. Steve flips himself over, rising up onto his hands and knees, “like this love” he says in a voice rough with want.

Bucky’s mouth drops open in shock, and he can feel a spike of intense arousal coming from him through the bond. Bucky moves directly behind him grabbing his hips and simply says “condom?” Steve shakes his head and replies “cum in me”, making Bucky groan. Bucky lines himself up and pushes slowly into Steve who lets out a filthy sounding moan at the sensation. “Fuck Stevie, you feel so good baby” Bucky says as he starts to move, gently rocking in and out of Steve in a way that makes Steve feel like Bucky is worshipping his body.

After a while of this slow grind Steve is panting harder and he moans out “you can go harder love” hearing Bucky groan in response, the brunette starts to pump his hips faster and pushes down on Steve’s broad shoulders a bit, making Steve adjust his angle slightly. Then that white hot spark ignites in him again as the new angle brings the thrust of Bucky’s cock in contact with Steve’s prostate and then he’s shouting, “shit, Buck” moaning loud, “oh, fuck” grinding himself back on Bucky’s cock as the brunette thrusts into him, and they continue like this for a while, Steve unable to hold back the moans as the pleasure builds, Bucky equally non-verbal as his groans continue to get louder while he slams into the blonde. Until Steve shouts “OH, I’m gonna cum Buck” and he can’t stop himself from clenching around Bucky as that white hot pleasure explodes through his whole body. Bucky feels it through the bond, and with Steve clenching around him so tight he can’t stop from burying himself deep inside Steve and spilling into the blonde man.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Bucky lays in Steve’s bed browsing his social media accounts. Steve had to go assist with some Avenger related stuff that Bucky wasn’t paying much attention to at the time, it’s not his fault Steve keeps wearing him out! He was too sleepy and sex drunk to really hear what Steve said, and thanks to their bond, he knows Steve is still in the building and is fine, if slightly annoyed at having to leave Bucky’s side, so he’s not worried.

When he’d woken up a bit more, he realised that he and Steve had almost forgotten the outside world existed the last few days, too engrossed in their new bond and each other, not to mention all the amazing sex. But he knew reality was gonna come and bite them in the ass sooner or later, so he thought he’d better check in with everyone. He opened his work group chat first.

** _ Red Hook Raiders _ **

_**Buck Nasty** – Hey guys and girls_

_**Sam The Man** – Bucko! You’re Alive!!!!!!!!!_

_**Ri Ri** – I told you he was Sammy, seriously! :-S_

_**Tina The Tiny** – DUDE! WTF??? You don’t call, you don’t write……_

_**Buck Nasty** – Yeah, I’m so sorry guys! Honestly, the last few days have been insane! Time just crept away from me._

_**Cole On A Pole** – We missed ya buddy. How’s things!_

_**Buck Nasty** – Things are great Cole. I spoke to Tim and gave him the brief version of events, but I wanted to let you guys know too. I found my soulmate guys. We bonded, but he was injured so I’ve been spending some time with him._

_**Cole On A Pole** – DUDE THAT’S AWESOME! Congrats buddy. Is your soulmate ok though? <3_

_**Tina The Tiny** – OMG Bucky! :-O_

_**Buck Nasty** – He’s fine guys, fully healed now. We are just enjoying these first few days of the bond, ya know._

_**Tina The Tiny** – What a relief, I’m so happy for you Bucky xxxxxxxx_

_**Captain Timmy** – We all are Bucky. I’m relieved your soulmate has recovered._

_**Dave Needs A Shave** – Happy for you pal, congratulations :-)_

_**Sam The Man** – Ri told me the basics. Looking forward to meeting him Bucko ;-)_

_**Cole On A Pole** – That’s awesome buddy! When do we get to meet him? Do we get a name?_

_**Buck Nasty** – Um his name is Steve. We’ll drop in to the firehouse soon, promise. I really want you all to meet him, he’s amazing, it’s just, it’ll be a bit of a surprise I guess._

_**Ri Ri** – Whatever and whenever is good for you Bro. You know we all love and support you. We are all here for you Bro xxx_

_**Buck Nasty** – Thanks Ri. Thanks all of you. I’ll talk to ya’ll again soon X_

Closing his work chat he turns the notifications for it back to silent, thankful for how awesome and supportive his crew are. Then moves on to the family group chat.

** _ Barnes Bunch _ **

_**Bucky** – Hey guys. Everyone ok?_

_**Winnie** – James darling. Your father and I are good. How are you and Steve?_

_**Bucky** – Steve’s all healed, Doc’s gave him the sign off this morning :-D_

_**George** – That’s fantastic son_

_**Becca** – High five Buckeroo!_

_**Winnie** – You must bring him to dinner tomorrow darling._

_**Bucky** – I’ll have to check with him and make sure he’s free, but I’m sure it’ll be ok. Just don’t bombard him, or embarrass him, or me! Please!_

_**Winnie** – James darling it’ll be fine. I’ll cook something extra special for us all. Your sister will behave herself too._

_**Becca** – Hey!!!!!! I’m insulted!_

_**George** – Your mother’s not wrong though. Son we look forward to seeing you and meeting Steve in person_

_**Bucky** – Thanks everyone. I’ll check in with Steve and text you mom. Love you all X_

_**Winnie** – Love you too darling X_

_**Becca** – Luv ya Buckeroo_

_**George** – Love you son_

Bucky then caught up with things on his Facebook and Instagram, waiting for Steve to return so he could drop the ‘meet the family’ bombshell.


	12. The Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah! Okay. I have no excuse! It's been waaaaay too long since I updated this!  
So I'm not 100% happy with this chapter, but it's the best I could get out. Feels like a kind of filler chapter really, as we have a bit more action coming soon, but this one is pure adorable fluff. I promise not to take so long with the next chapter, and I apologise for keeping you all waiting so long for this one.  
As always, enjoy xXx

Steve was nervous! His leg was jiggling up and down as he sat in the back of the car with Bucky, Happy driving them along to Bucky’s parent’s house for dinner. Bucky put his hand on Steve’s knee and squeezed gently. “Baby it’s ok, they’re gonna love you, relax” Bucky told him in a soothing voice. Steve took Bucky’s hand in his and brought it to his lips, brushing light kisses across Bucky’s knuckles, and breathed a sigh out, “I hope so Buck, I really want to make a good impression” Steve replied. “You will Stevie, all they care about is that I’m happy, and you make me happier than I’ve ever been in my whole life, so don’t worry” Bucky stated and Steve just looked at him in awe, feeling his honesty and sending love back. Bucky’s calming presence through the bond definitely helped.

“We’re here Captain Rogers, Lieutenant Barnes” Happy stated, and the two men thanked him and stepped out of the car, Steve leaned back in to take out the gifts he had insisted on bringing for his family. Bucky had told him he didn’t need to take anything, that his family were just excited to meet him, but he had insisted that it was traditional and proper behaviour to bring a gift when meeting your new soulmate’s family for the first time (Bucky had googled it and it had been common practice back when Steve was young, so had relented and given him some ideas). Bucky took Steve’s other hand and led him to his parent’s front door. Steve let out a tense breath and made his body relax, Bucky looked at him and asked “ready?” Steve replying with a nod, and Bucky knocked on the door.

George Barnes opened the door with a smile, “son” he greeted Bucky with a back slapping hug then looking at Steve. Steve offered his hand out and said “Mr Barnes, I’m Steve Rogers, it’s an honour to meet you sir”, George looked a little star struck but grabbed Steve’s hand, shaking it enthusiastically and replied “please, you’re my son’s soulmate, that means you’re family too, call me George, I insist”. Steve blushed lightly but smiled genuinely and said “thank you George, that means a lot to me” and George waved the two men into the house saying “welcome to our home Steve” shutting the door behind them.

Bucky was smiling at the exchange between his soulmate and dad, and looked down the hallway as his mom and sister walked into it towards the front door, Bucky stepped forward and kissed his mom and hugged his sister then stepped back and said “mom, Becs, this is Steve”. Winnie walked up to Steve and wrapped the larger man in a hug saying “it’s wonderful to meet you finally Steve”, Steve hugged her back, feeling genuinely amazing to be wrapped in a mom hug for the first time since he had lost his own. “It’s great to meet you too Mrs Barnes, thank you for inviting me over” Steve replied. Winnie released him and said “it’s Winnie to you Steve dear. We’re family now” with a smile and a light pat of Steve’s cheek, making Steve blush lightly again. He then turned to Becca who said “call me Becca, and it’s great to meet you” she said holding out her hand with a smile, Steve shook it and smiled back “and you Becca. Bucky’s told me a lot about you all, and I have a gift for each of you” he told them opening the bag and pulling out individual gift bags, handing one to each of the Barnes’s and looking slightly nervous.

Winnie looked confused so Bucky spoke up “it was kinda tradition back when Steve grew up, and he really wanted to follow it” he said smiling at his soulmate lovingly. The Barnes’s all kind of melted at that look, a look they’d never seen on Bucky’s face before. George opened his gift bag first, pulling out a bottle of Bookers Limited Edition 30th Anniversary Bourbon Whisky he looked at Steve in awe, “Bucky told me you like whisky and Tony recommended this one to me” Steve stated, “this is a $500 whisky Steve, you really shouldn’t have” George said in a stunned tone but followed it with “wait, you mean Tony Stark?” making them all laugh. Winnie opened her bag to a small box containing a beautiful pair of pearl earrings, “oh Steve they are gorgeous, thank you dear” Winnie stated. Steve smiled a huge pleased grin, “Bucky told me your birthday was June, so I got your birthstone” he told her with another blush. Becca opened her bag last and in it were 4 tickets for Hamilton on Broadway. “Bucky told me you’d always wanted to see it” Steve said with yet another blush and Becca let out a little squeal before wrapping Steve in a hug while everyone else laughed. “Oh my god Steve, this is amazing, thank you so much” Becca said excitedly. “You’re welcome Becca” Steve replied with a grin and Bucky took his hand again giving it a squeeze “you did good babe” he told him, planting a kiss on his cheek. Steve’s blush deepened and all the Barnes’s laughed again, but they were all feeling very grateful and also so happy at seeing Bucky so in love and happy himself.

Winnie then directed them all to the dining room to sit while she and George brought the dinner out. Bucky having pre-warned her about the amount of food Steve needed to eat, the table was laden with dishes. His mom had outdone herself, a lamb casserole, a huge beef cottage pie slathered in buttery mashed potato, and a leek and onion soup, as well as side dishes of roasted vegetables and home baked bread rolls adorned the table top, and Steve’s mouth watered at the sights and smells in front of him. He sent an appreciative look to Winnie and said “this all looks absolutely amazing Winnie, smells even better. Thank you”. She sent him a motherly smile and replied “it’s no trouble Steve, I love to cook. Dig in”, and everybody did. Steve took small portions to begin with, racing through them and making the Barnes’s laugh, Bucky and Winnie ensuring him he could take as much as he liked and not to feel guilty about it. So then he heaped his plate full and re-filled his bowl with soup and dug in with extra enthusiasm, telling Winnie how amazing everything tasted and making her blush slightly and smile wide with the praise. Bucky looking at him with a tender smile and broadcasting his love and contentment through the bond to him.

The meal was accompanied by gentle chat, the Barnes’s asking Steve questions about himself, about what it was like when he was young, what the worst and best things he’s experienced were, and just generally getting to know him. Steve felt completely relaxed as the meal progressed, asking questions back and revelling in the family atmosphere he’d not felt since his own mom died.

After dinner was finished (Steve having had 4 portions of everything), Winnie brought out a beautiful chocolate cake drizzled in chocolate ganache and tubs of ice cream. George cutting slices for everyone. The cake was met with moans of pleasure from everyone and they all ate the delicious desert in silence.

“Wow Winnie, that was delicious! Even I’m full, and that’s an achievement all of its own” Steve joked when desert was finished, the bowl almost completely scraped clean. Winnie chuckled “glad to hear it” she replied giving Steve a wink. Steve looked around the table and said “thank you again all of you for welcoming me in to your home, I really am honoured. It means so much to me to meet the people most important to Bucky” he stated shyly but genuinely.

Bucky took hold of Steve’s hand resting on the table and gave it a squeeze, a look of complete adoration in his eyes. George smiled and said “honestly Steve, we meant it, you’re family now, and us Barnes’s take care of each other. Welcome to the family Steve”. Steve’s eyes may have misted up at that point, but he’d never felt more settled in this new century than he did at that moment, surrounded by family, with the love of his life, his perfect soulmate, by his side and in his mind.


	13. The Crew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowzer! It's been a while huh! I can only apologise. Lockdown gave me the opportunity to write but absoloutely zero motivation to do so.  
Here's a new chapter that starts of with a smattering of smut to make up for it.
> 
> Hope everyone is keeping well.
> 
> Happy pride month. Black lives matter xXx

Bucky gasped loudly as Steve rocked into him, kneeling at the head of the bed, fingers grasping the top of the headboard so tight his knuckles were white as Steve held one hand to his hip and the other to his chest. “Oh god Stevie, right there, right there baby” Bucky moaned, eyes closing, as Steve’s cock dragged across his prostate sending a spark of heat throughout his body. And Steve more than willingly obliged.

“Fuck, so hot, so tight Buck. So perfect” Steve groaned out as he pounded into Bucky, sweat beading on his forehead as he watched a drop snake its way down Bucky’s back. Bucky was panting now and letting out high little whines that drove Steve crazy.

“Steve. M’ close” Bucky managed to tell him.

“Oh Buck, so good. Let go for me love. Cum for me” Steve practically growled, and as his next thrust grazed Bucky’s prostate again, Bucky clenched up all around him and moaned loudly, throwing his head back against Steve’s shoulder as his cum painted the headboard. A couple more thrusts into that tightness had Steve spilling deep inside Bucky as he physically held his almost limp lover up with ease as Bucky panted into the side of Steve’s neck.

Steve held him there snuggled close as Bucky’s breathes evened out and his eyelids fluttered open, a fucked out expression but completely blissed smiled on his face. Steve looked at him with sheer adoration. He still couldn’t believe this gorgeous man was his, he never knew it was possible to love someone so much, hadn’t ever believed or understood it until Bucky.

Bucky blushed beautifully at Steve’s thoughts but smiled wider all the same.

Steve removed his hand from Bucky’s hip and guided them both down to lay on the bed, where Bucky immediately buried himself into Steve’s chest, nuzzling against his pecs, a hand thrown over his waist.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” Steve asked him, placing a kiss against Bucky’s forehead.

Bucky hummed for a few seconds before letting out a little laugh. “Well I was gonna suggest we head over to the firehouse so I can introduce you to the crew, but I’m not sure my legs are gonna work anymore” he joked.

Steve laughed hugging Bucky tighter for a second before reaching with a finger to nudge Bucky’s chin up so he could kiss him gently.

“How about I carry you to the shower” Steve asked softly into Bucky’s ear not giving the brunette a chance to even consider a reply before he rolled himself up off the bed and hoisted Bucky up into a bridal carry like he weighed nothing and carried him into the bathroom, placing him gently down to sit on the side of the bathtub while he started the shower. Bucky’s mouth hanging slightly open.

Steve turned the shower to their favourite setting and turned back to Bucky holding out a hand. “You think you can stand now?” he asked teasingly. Bucky’s eyes darkened slightly and he licked his lips before replying “who needs to stand when I’ll be perfectly comfortable on my knees”, making Steve’s eyes widen and a breathy moan escape his lips.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Steve had borrowed the same car from Tony he’d used the last time he drove to Bucky’s firehouse, music playing low as Bucky lounged in the passenger seat letting out a happy sigh as he enjoyed the lush padding of the seat. Steve couldn’t help but smile. “You sure I look ok Buck? I still feel a little underdressed” Steve asked.

Bucky had chosen him out a pair of dark blue jeans, a tight grey t-shirt and a brown leather jacket with a pair of classic white Nike sneakers, after he’d told him he was thinking of wearing smart slacks and a button down shirt. Bucky insisted he’d be way too overdressed, and that the crew would be much more relaxed if he stayed casual.

“Baby you look gorgeous. Seriously, if you weren’t already mine I’d be reluctant to take you in there, I’d be fighting off the competition” Bucky replied looking him up and down with a definite heat behind his eyes. He could sense Bucky’s honesty and desire through the bond and let out a small breathy laugh.

Bucky laughed as well “I’m sorry, you know I can’t help it baby. Your just so damn gorgeous and sexy, it’s hard to keep my eyes off you, or my hands for that matter” he stated giving Steve a wink.

Steve spared him a quick loving glance before returning his eyes to the road replying “trust me love, the feeling is completely mutual”. Their bond was a feedback loop of love, desire, honesty and adoration. A feeling Steve was beginning to recognise as home.

As they pulled up to the curb a short distance from the firehouse and parked, Steve turned to Bucky again, “how do you wanna do this?” he asked.

Bucky lightly bit down on his lower lip for a second, Steve’s eyes tracking the movement, before he said “we’re just gonna casually walk in straight up to Tim’s office, I’ll introduce you to him first, then I’ll get him to assemble the crew, don’t laugh when I say assemble Steven, and then we’ll go in together”.

Steve had let out a little snort of laughter at assemble, yeah he couldn’t help it, then his eyebrows had shot up at the ‘Steven’ in Bucky’s reprimand, he found it surprisingly hot. Bucky narrowed his eyes at him playfully as he sensed that feeling, but a smile quickly overtook the scowl he’d been trying to give Steve and they both laughed again.

Getting out of the car, Steve held his hand out to Bucky, who took it without a second of hesitation, and they made their way in. Bucky led Steve through the engine bay to the back where the Captain’s office was situated and knocked on the door, opening it enough to poke his head around after hearing a “come in”.

“Hey Tim, you busy?” Bucky greeted. “Bucky, how wonderful to see you, to what do we owe this visit?” Tim responds. “Got someone I’d like you to meet” Bucky replies, pushing the door open more and moving in pulling Steve in by the hand behind him.

“Tim Prior, I’d like you to meet Steve Rogers, my soulmate” Bucky tells him.

Steve steps forward and offers his hand to shake, “it’s a pleasure to meet you sir, Bucky’s told me a lot about you and the crew” Steve says as Tim shakes his hand with a slightly stunned look on his face. Steve can sense Bucky’s humour and knows he’s trying not to laugh at it.

Tim seems to snap himself out of it quickly though, “well…. It’s a pleasure Captain, none of this sir business either it’s just Tim” he offers with a smile. Steve returns it and says “and for my part it’s just Steve” to which Tim nods approval. They chat for a little while, general small talk, until Bucky says “we were wondering if you could get the crew together so we can tell everyone at the same time”.

Tim nods and replies “of course, good plan, who wants to keep repeating themselves! I’ll get them all in the kitchen area” and turns to the tannoy system on the side part of his desk. Pressing the speaker button he announces “All crew to the kitchen, general meeting, that’s all crew to the kitchen” and releases the button again.

“I’ll head up now, give us a couple minutes then follow” Tim tells them and gets up from the desk, heading out the door.

Steve looks at Bucky and says “one down” with a soft smile. Bucky smiles back at him and leans over to plant a soft kiss against his lips, “you’re doing great baby, they’re gonna love you. Just, ya know, not as much as me” and kisses him again.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Bucky leads Steve up the stairs to the kitchen area, hand firmly holding Steve’s. They make it to the door and Bucky doesn’t hesitate for a second leading Steve straight through. “Howdy guys and girls” he smiles easily, spotting Sam, Riley, Tina, Cole, Dave, Winston, Annabeth, and Selene sat around the kitchen in front of Tim. The group look to Bucky smiles breaking out on their faces before they notice the figure stood behind him.

“Okay, so straight to it, I’d like you all to meet Steve Rogers, my soulmate” Bucky states and tugs Steve forward a bit more, gazing adoringly at Steve’s handsome face. Steve steps up to Bucky’s left side, and moves his hand from Bucky’s to wrap around his right hip, raising his left hand in a little wave and says “hi everyone”.

Riley stands from his seat and steps forward to shake Steve’s hand and says “great to meet you Steve, congratulations to you both” not wanting to give the game away that he already knew and had spoken to Steve before, which has the knock on effect of jostling the others out of their obvious shock and into coming to introduce themselves. The next few minutes are a cacophony of introductions, congratulations and noise, people moving around and hands being shaken, and many a hug for Bucky.

“So how on earth did you two meet?” asks Tina after things settle down. “I pulled Steve outta that church fire we had a few weeks back” Bucky states smirking, “DUDE, that was you?” Sam barks out with a laugh. Steve blushes a little but lets out a little huff of laughter himself, “uuhh yeah, turns out even Avengers need saving from time to time” he laughs self-deprecatingly. The rest of the room laugh along with him and the questions continue, the team asking how they got together, how Steve is after the events of the battle, showing genuine concern for him and happiness for the both of them. Steve clearly relaxes in to the chatting and light teasing from Bucky’s team, and a swell of pride rises in Bucky at just how amazing Steve is and how proud he is to be Steve’s. Steve sends his love and happiness back through the bond so Bucky knows he is doing fine. They are still sat with their hands twined together, and Bucky notices frequent soft eyed glances at that sent his way from his crew. He knows he really is so lucky to work with such awesome people.

Later when the two men leave, they jump back in the car and head off to Bucky’s apartment. Pulling into Bucky’s rarely used parking space and jumping out of the car. Bucky grabs his bag from the back seat and slings it over his shoulder and they make their way up to his apartment.

Bucky unlocks the door and heads through leading Steve into his space for the first time. He gestures around and says “make yourself at home” before walking into the kitchen to stick his washing in his machine and clear out the fridge. His apartment isn’t huge but it is decent. A good size kitchen that is separated from his living room by a long breakfast bar with stools. He has a decent sized flat screen TV mounted to the wall and a large soft L-shaped sofa facing it, behind which is a row of low shelves running under the large windows. At one end of the wall is the door to Bucky’s bedroom and the other end of the wall opposite the kitchen has the door to the bathroom. The open plan room is decorated in a gorgeous royal blue with grey accents in the furnishings, and gorgeous dark oak wood flooring. Bucky loves it, and he hopes Steve does too.

He watches as Steve moves around the room slowly, taking everything in. Bucky has a section of photos on either side of his TV. One side is family photos dating back to when he was little, including holidays they had been on. The other side is a collage of pictures from his career. Photos of Bucky as a rookie on the engine, his graduation in his dress uniform, a couple of newspaper articles with his picture from rescues he made that his mom had framed for him, and his firefighter of the year award. A fierce sense of pride comes through the bond as Steve looks over these and Bucky blushes at the intensity but feels immensely happy.

Steve moves to seat himself in one of the stools at the breakfast bar, looking adoringly at Bucky, he says “you have a lovely home Buck. Thank you for bringing me here. Thank you for everything today, showing me your work, meeting your colleagues, showing me your home. It means the world to me”. Bucky feels the sincerity behind Steve’s words and moves around the breakfast bar, Steve turning sideways on the stool to meet him, Bucky slots himself between Steve’s legs and wraps his arms around Steve’s waist, nuzzling his face into Steve’s neck and kissing gently up to his jaw as Steve’s arms snake around his shoulders. “I love that I get to share my life with you now Stevie. Every part of my life. I love you” he tells him and Steve tilts his head up with a finger to Bucky’s chin, capturing his lips in a kiss as his thumb rubs gently into the dimple in Bucky’s chin that Bucky knows Steve adores. Steve hums a gentle “I love you too Buck, so much” against Bucky’s lips and Bucky responds by gently nipping at Steve’s luscious lower lip. Steve pulls Bucky in to him more and deepens the kiss, their tongues meeting as they lick into each other’s mouths, it’s languid and loving, Bucky’s hands stroking up and down Steve’s back while Steve holds him in his strong arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I pictured Steve in the above outfit for meeting Bucky's crew, because he looks damn fine in it!
> 
> Back soon with a new chapter (sooner than this one for sure)
> 
> xXx


End file.
